My Experience of Fallas

By Linus Willson

Flaming embers falling on our heads at La Puente de los Serranos on the night of Febuary 26th 

Sunday Febuary 26th

Sunday, February 26th, 8 p.m., Torre y Puente de los Serranos:

On this night, we ate dinner at the apartment of our friend Sol. She is the first person we met in Valencia, through a volunteer organization called Servas (go to the related link to learn more about Servas). Sol had invited us to stay at her place for a couple days while we investigated the city and decided if this was the place we wanted to stay. Now that we had found an apartment and gotten settled, it was nice to be included at a friendly dinner party. She and her partner Candido suggested we might like to see the first big fireworks display that evening after desert.
We were driven most of the way to the Tower Bridge by her friend, Victoria. Even though the official start wouldn’t be until Tuesday, the first of March, Valencianos couldn’t wait that long for the fireworks to begin. As we walked toward the tower, we could see the crowd gathering, but couldn’t comprehend the number of people until we neared the bridge, El Puente de Los Serranos. It was completely blocked, filled with spectators.

Once we had gotten as near as possible, we could just barely make out the Tower (a remnant of the ancient city gate) and the stage in front of it. When the performance started with a few fireworks and the burning of something that may have been a “Falla”, or sculpture, I thought the main event was only someone giving a speech, or something boring like that. We walked to the closest, unblocked bridge (the foot bridge was closed by the Police), crossed over The River (El Rio), which is actually a long park running through the city, and started to head home. About half way between that bridge and the Tower Bridge, the real show started.

At first, it was just the “normal” fireworks we’d seen on the Fourth of July in Seattle, and at various other places. Suddenly, the air burst open with a shower of sparks in the dark sky, followed by burning embers raining on our heads! We were inclined to move out of the path of falling debris, but the sight was so spectacular, we were rooted to the spot. I asked my mom for the camera, and started to take a movie of the explosions, but ash got in my eye, so I couldn’t actually see what I was filming. Just as I’d put away the camera, the finale started, and it was all I could do to stare open–mouthed (which helps your ears by making the sound vibrations go out your mouth) as the sky filled with multi-colored blossoms of fire.

The last event was the most colossal: huge columns of white fire spewed up from the riverbed and exploded with the most tremendous noise I had ever heard. Then the smoke came our way, and we were forced to flee in the direction of our apartment. Even though I got debris in my eye, and smoke in my mouth and nose, I was very much looking forward to the festivities that would continue for the next month.

The crowds, police, first aid men, and the fallera princesses at the first Mascleta at the plaza de Anuntimiento 

Tuesday March 1st

Tuesday March 1st, the first Mascleta in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento:

We arrived half an hour early, and even though we were told to be there an hour early, we were able to stand right at the front. Friends from the climbing gym showed up and stood beside us as the crowds filled in behind us. It’s hard to explain what happened next: all the princesses nominated from the different neighborhoods watched from the Ayuntamiento balcony as the fireworks began. First came the colorful air born fireworks, but since it was daylight, they were not as spectacular as at the Rio. The real purpose of the Mascleta became clear as they reached the finale. The force of explosions was not only tremendous to hear but could be felt in your chest, with the last big blasts. We were told to keep our mouths open to avoid damage to our ears! Afterwards, the crowd cheered and rushed to the site of the explosions, to get a better look at the remaining debris.

The Virgen half coverd with flowers on the night of the 17th 

Thursday March 17th

Thursday March 17th, the Ofrenda:

We began the day with our neighborhood Mascleta, on the street kitty corner from our apartment. Although it was a smaller version, it was just as shocking to the heart and ears, as we were able to stand closer to it. Some of the neighborhood men waited until the very last second to get out of their chairs, set on the street to allow them to drink beer and enjoy each other’s company. The Pirotecnico lit the fuse with his cigar, and then walked through the ensuing explosions appearing completely unruffled. Celia, our friend and a local Valenciana, told me later if you look closely, most of the pyrotechnicians are missing fingers.

All around us, other neighborhoods were lighting off their mascletas! After comida (lunch), we crossed the bridge and visited the Plaza de la Virgen in the old center of town. The processions of Falleras had begun that morning, and the Virgen was already half way covered with patterns of carnations. Brass bands were playing everywhere. My mom told me a band had awakened them at 8:30 that morning, but I am a very hard sleeper and didn’t even realize they had come (and my bedroom is in the back of our apartment). That night, we attended the big fireworks display beside the bridge. The crowd included lots of Irish tourists wearing shamrocks painted on their cheeks, because it was also St. Patrick’s Day. After an amazing display, we wandered home around 2 a.m., passing hordes of drunk young people, pissing everywhere.

Fireworks going off above the river on the night of the 18th 

Friday March18th

Friday March 18th, Bunuelos and more Fireworks:
Everywhere we walked in the center of town, we found stands selling churros and the special donuts called Bunuelos; these are made from pumpkin, then sprinkled with sugar or dipped in a cup of thick chocolate. We tried the chocolate, but it was disappointing. Since they make such large quantities of it, they simply melt the chocolate and add large quantities of cornstarch and water.

Our friend Sol hosted a party this night where I talked in careful English with two Spanish boys who spoke a little bit of English, as well as the other regional languages – Catalan, Valenciano and Castellano. We ate typical Spanish foods like tortilla (a baked egg and potato dish served warm or cold), salads and fresh bread. I ate mostly cheese and crackers, because I don’t like salad.

At 1 a.m., we climbed up to the terrace of Sol’s building to watch the Ayuntamiento fireworks from down in El Rio. Once again, the show was far more spectacular than would ever be allowed in the United States, and included a Mascleta-like finish, with such an amazing force that I could feel it from the distance of over half a mile.

That night, we got to bed about 3:30.

Falla burning on the 19th (the street light is actually above the fire, not in it). 

Saturday March 19th

Saturday March 19th, Burning the Fallas:
Around noon, we left the house and headed across town on foot, to meet Sol and Candido. We met them near the train station and walked in the direction of the Mascleta we were going to see. On the way we stopped to look at a couple of Fallas that had mobs of people swarming around them. Eventually we started to drift over to where the show was going to happen.

You can’t describe a Mascleta without hearing it and actually feeling the force of the explosions hit your chest. Smoke filled the sky, people smiled with their mouths open to protect their eardrums, and the sound was deafening.

Afterwards, our friends led us to Ruzafa, the neighborhood that had won the annual Falla light contest. The streets were decorated with massive walls of multicolored lights. Unfortunately, it was not dark yet, so we couldn’t fully comprehend the display, but it was still impressive. We bought lunch at various stands set up for Fallas; I chose a sausage and onion sandwich, followed by a luscious chocolate crepe. I was getting cold, so we returned home to change before the evening’s events.

After a short rest, my dad and I went out to the vacant lot near our house, equipped with 8 empty pop cans, a wine bottle, and an armful of fireworks. This was the last official day to light them legally. At first, we were content to simply drop the lit firecrackers in the cans and watch them explode, but then we started experimenting with other combinations. My dad found an empty plastic cup and placed a lit petardo (firework) under it. The cup was shredded into hundreds of little pieces! We tried to find more cups like that, but apparently other people had had the same idea: most of what we found had already been exploded. Some local Spanish kids had come with their own fireworks, and while we were busy with the cup, blew up our wine bottle. We had intended the bottle to be a launcher for my rockets, and now we had no way to shoot them off. However, we found an empty Fanta bottle that proved just as useful. For some reason, the locals had not seen my particular type of rockets and were impressed when I lit them off three at a time.

The next adventure would be the burnings! We shared a cena (small dinner) with Celia, Denis, Candido and Sol at Celia’s house, and then at almost midnight, we set out to watch the Fallas burn. If you’re lucky, you can see 4 or 5 Fallas burn on this one night. We saw six!

The first was a children’s Falla, set off by the neighborhood organization and complete with loud fireworks exploding as the fuse burned. We were curious to see locals busting into part of their larger Falla; at first, I thought they were stealing a piece of it (Celia told us sometimes people take parts of it for souvenirs). But it turned out that they were actually rigging it with more explosives, so the Styrofoam and plastic would more easily catch fire and burn.

The next Falla was only a block away, and since the Bomberos (firemen) were already there, we figured they would start soon. The Fallera Mayor of the neighborhood was given a piece of the Falla sculpture (in this case, an apple the size of a large dog), and the honor of lighting the fuse. Someone, probably the Pirotecnico, doused the sculpture with gasoline, and must have already rigged the entire body of the sculpture with petardos, because when the fuse was lit, it not only burned but exploded. In addition to the fire and explosions of the Falla itself, there was also a mini Mascleta and fireworks show, all put on by the neighborhood association. The outside paint coast and plastic melted off the Falla first, and eventually we could see through the flames to the bare wood supports. Bomberos sprayed the walls of the adjacent apartment buildings to stop the windows from stress fracturing. When the fire had mostly died out, the local children
were allowed to throw their leftover fireworks into the blaze (including Celia’s daughter, Luna, who had met us there after a party she had attended before. Luna was a Fallera for the first time this year).

We traveled from Falla to Falla, always on the move watching for the next fire to burn, and stopping once for sugarcoated Churros. After several hours of running around, we headed over to the Falla de Jordana at the Puente de los Artes, the largest Falla in our part of the city, and in the end, the last one to burn. Thousands of people had already been waiting hours by the time we got there. Luckily, Luna had a classmate who lived in one of the nearby apartment buildings, and we were invited up to their rooftop to watch from there. We could see black smoke billowing from numerous Fallas around the city. Since this was to be one of the largest burnings, it also needed the most firemen. The part of the Falla that made it so huge was a life size replica of the nearby tower, El Torre de Santa Catalina, and stood 80 feet tall.

I was slightly disappointed for two reasons: one, the wait was almost unbearable, what with sore feet from running and the fact that it was four in the morning before the fire began in earnest; and two, when the tower did finally burn, it was a very slow process and ended up gradually collapsing in on itself instead of a mighty finish, like some of the others we had seen. Celia told us later Luna had also been disappointed, not only by these factors, but also because she had not been sprayed by the firefighters. There is a tradition with the locals to taunt the Bomberos by insulting their mothers and their manhood, until they turn their hoses on the crowd . That night, we got home dry and exhausted, near five o’clock in the morning.

Overall, Fallas was a great experience for me and even with this detailed explanation, you will not be able to fully comprehend the excitement and intensity that is Fallas. You’ll just have to be here for next year!

Fallas! By Linus Willson

The very first Mascleta, March 1st, in La Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Old Town Hall).

The Ofrenda: Falleras bringing flowers to the Virgin in processions, and young men arranging them in detailed patterns, in La Plaza de la Virgen. 

Last big blowout fireworks display over "el Rio", the night of March 18th. 

The burning Tower, made to scale, at La Falla de Jordana, 4 a.m. the day after March 19th. 

Fallas, Festival of Burning

The reason the people of Valencia, Spain celebrate Fallas, with all its gunpowder and explosives is not primarily religious, but simply because they can. There is no reason not to do it. Each Falla, or giant Styrofoam sculpture, is unique, and every neighborhood in the city creates one major Falla and one for their children. The whole festival is on a giant scale, employing huge amounts of time, energy and gunpowder in each fireworks show. Fallas lasts for an entire month, and culminates in 3 days of explosives, parties and traditional processions.

Our friend Denis from Dublin, Ireland, highly recommends a locally produced video (Video Fallas 2005), which describes the 3 essential parts of Fallas:

1) The Mascleta, which is the afternoon blow out provided by each neighborhood organization, every day of the 3 main festival days; the Ayuntamiento provides the major Mascleta every afternoon for the 3 weeks leading up to the night of the burnings, on March 19th (St. Josephs day).

2) The Ofrenda, the process of bringing bouquets of carnations to the giant statue of the Virgin in the Plaza de la Virgen. The wooden frame of the Virgins dress begins as bare slats of wood. Beginning on Thursday, March 17th, each neighborhood group of Falleras walks in a procession, escorted by their local brass band, toward the Plaza, bringing their bouquet to contribute to the gown. The order of offering is carefully orchestrated so there will be exactly the right number of each color of carnation (white, red and pink), as well as a constant flow of Falleras arriving in the Plaza. The Ofrenda is completed on the night of the 18th.

3) The Burning, the culmination of Fallas on the night of March 19th. Each neighborhood Falla is doused with gasoline and set alight with hundreds of fireworks. The official guide book says the Fallas all burn at midnight, but this is impossible because the Bomberos, or firemen, must be present throughout the entire process. Even though they come from miles around to help speed up the process, there are still not enough firemen for each Falla, so they have to move from burning to burning.

Each neighborhood begins by burning the Falla Infantile, which is the children's sculpture. Local Falla officials handle this burning, and afterwards, the children are allowed to toss their remaining firecrackers into the fire. The major burnings begin with the giant Falla in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, although we don't know for sure this is how it began. Then the firemen move from Falla to Falla. We realized this is actually good for the spectator, who can move with them and get the most out of their viewing, by seeing as many as possible.