Fallas
Description:
Fallas is a solemn, or rather festive burning of huge dolls on the night of March 19-20 (March 19 is St. Joseph’s Day, the patron saint of Valencia). The burning of dolls is the culmination of a celebration that begins on March 1 with a parade of pyrotechnics (mascleta). In the first days of March, the sky of Valencia looks like a Christmas tree, so numerous and beautiful fireworks. In addition to professional teams of pyrotechnics competing among themselves for the most deafening and spectacular fireworks, there are also special teams around the city dressed in black shirts and checkered headscarves around the neck. They throw small bombs, firecrackers and jokes at passers-by, and, as in the case of Tomatina, what passers-by or tourists do not know about the tradition of celebrating Fallas does not save them from unexpected explosions under their feet. But the roar above and under the feet of the Spaniards seems small, and the residents themselves are also actively involved in the transformation of the city into a small volcano for these few days. Firecrackers throw everything, regardless of age and status in society: adults, children, the elderly, students and bank employees, and all this lasts more than one day!
After the pyrotechnic parade, the next stage of the celebration of Fallas begins - the offering of flowers as a gift to the patron saint of all the defenseless (La Ofrenda de Flores a la Virgen de los Desamparados). For three days, the residents of the city bring flowers to St. Virgin Square, where a huge figure of the Virgin with the Child in her arms is installed. The square in front of the figure and the figure itself, women decorate with flowers, laying out with gladiolis, carnations, cyclamen, lilies and other types of flowers beautiful patterns on clothes, hands, face of the Holy Virgin and her baby. During this offering, residents don their national costumes, and women dress up in bright, colorful handmade costumes decorated with beads, pearls or corals. If women are the main ornament and the protagonist in the delivery of flowers, then men in these three days are assigned the role of assistants. They help to carry and solemnly install large compositions of flowers that arrived in Valencia from the regions and regions, as well as take over the organization of orchestras.
At the end of these three days, a huge paella for the whole city is being prepared in a large stadium. In general, during Fallas, the main culinary dish is chocolate doughnuts (bunuelos), which are sold around the clock throughout Valencia. Between these two first stages of the celebration of Fallas, and during them too, various carnivals, masquerades and competitions are held. For example, choose the queen and princess of the holiday among the most beautiful girls and girls respectively. Then these beauties, who are called firemen, will give the order to start the main event of Fallas.
The main event, called La Crema, will take place on the night of March 19, and starting from March 15, preparations are underway for it. On the streets of Valencia are placed compositions of huge figures, fallas, which gave the name to the holiday. These figures or dolls are depicted in a satirical spirit of famous politicians and actors, TV presenters and torero. Sometimes they ridicule any human vices or events of a city or country. These compositions can reach a height of up to 20 meters, professional teams of designers, artists and carpenters work on their creation. Moreover, today in Valencia there are even special factories where they are engaged in the creation of these dolls. Dolls are made of flammable materials: cardboard, paper, plywood, papier-mache, and work on them begins immediately after the holiday.
These huge dolls are installed all over the city, on every street. With the help of cranes, compositions of large figures are placed, and small ones (ninot) are placed next to them by hand. These figures are colorful, with ribbons, in lush costumes, and their number in 2004, for example, reached 800 pieces. It is easy to imagine what Valencia looks like when all the figures are installed, and the eyes are rippling from colorful ribbons! Of course, from March 15 to March 20, all roads in Valencia are closed, and it is simply impossible to drive by car in the city. The figures will stand under the admiring eyes of residents and tourists for three days, during which one large and one small doll will be selected, which will escape the fate of the rest and will be placed in the Museum of Fallero, in addition, their authors will receive an award from the city hall.
At 22:00, on the orders of the Queen of the feast, small figures begin to burn, and at midnight large figures are also consigned to fire. For these three or four hours Valencia turns into a huge blazing fire. The glow from hundreds of dolls, evenly placed throughout the city, can be seen far from Valencia itself. The annual work of dozens of people burns in a few hours. But this is such a beautiful and exciting spectacle that no master regrets the time spent on the manufacture of fakes. When the last doll burns out, another salute is heard. The grandiose, impressive fireworks, which the city hall cherished for a year, lasts an hour.
That's where Fallas ends, but once the ashes are cleared from the streets, preparations will begin for the next celebration of this vibrant, spring holiday.