My Life in Valencia

Well it’s Fallas time again! Where does the time go?!

It’s officially my favourite and least favourite time of year. Fallas! Over the last three years I have developed a love-hate relationship with the festival which seems to be a common sentiment here. Talking about Fallas here is a typical topic all year round, but especially as we get into February and early March. In Valencia, it’s like talking about the weather. If you don’t know what else to talk about, talk about Fallas…it’s guaranteed to start up a conversation. Some people’s faces light up the moment you mention it. Chances are they are falleros and falleras and it is their favourite time of year. Others clearly don’t like it and use it as a time to get out of the city if they can. Others can take it or leave it. I’m sort of in the middle. What do I love? The whole idea of the festival and the traditions associated it. There is truly nothing like it. I think my favourite aspects are the Fallas themselves….walking around the city and seeing these amazing structures….they are truly works of art. I also love the Ofrenda de las Flores, when the falleros/falleras walk to the Plaza de la Virgen to offer flower and decorate the large Virgen Mary in the middle of the plaza with flowers. It’s truly spectacular. Visiting the Virgen on the last day of Fallas has come to be one of my own favourite rituals when I bring my own flowers to honor my dad. It is very special to me. What do I hate? The noise, the crowds and the traffic which are constant at Fallas time and is why people choose to leave the city if they can. But for now, for me, the good outweighs the bad; I choose the events that I love and then hide in my apartment for the other times to stay away from the constant fireworks (known as petardos) being thrown.

Most people think of Fallas as a 4 -5 day festival from March 15 until the 19th. However, the truth is that it really is about a month and half long which starts in February which is why I call it a ¨season¨. The first official signs of Fallas starts back on February 1 when each Falla chooses a Ninot to bring to the Science Museum to put on Display at the Ninot Exhibit in the hopes that their Ninot will be chosen to be saved from the fire. There are more than 700 Ninots exhibited there and anyone can visit to vote on the one they want to save from the fire. This is also one of my favourite traditions which I do every year. This year I actually voted….see my choices below in pics. As you will see many of the Ninots are commenting on recent events, and this year the preferred topic was the Dana. The featured image at the top of this blog was my absolute favourite. It was a miniature one, part of the children’s Fallas. It rotated and it was on the Solidarity Bridge, which was the bridge everyone crossed to go and help the towns flooded from the Dana. You will see one side they are clean, the other dirty from cleaning the mood. Truly symbolic of a horrible event. ì really hope it is saved!

For the rest of February, it’s pretty quiet until the end of the month with the Criada, the welcoming of the start of Fallas, when the Fallera Mayor of the city of Valencia gathers everyone at the Torres de Serrano to announce the start of Fallas. This year that was February 23. After that it goes a little quiet for a week until March 1 when the daily Mascleta´s start (daily pyrotechnic sound and light show in the main square at 2pm). This year it has been a little quieter than usual as this past week the weather has been awful (also unusual for Valencia) with nothing but rain. This caused Valencia to practically shut completely down for three days and they cancelled all the Fallas festivities while everyone hunkered down inside, afraid of another Dana/flood. But today the sun is shining and as of Friday everything is back up and running and we are definitely in full Fallas mode.

The other signs that Fallas is here…..the churros and buñuelos food trucks pop up around the city. Lights start being hung up in all the neighborhoods and then they start to block off roads and areas where they will start to build the Fallas. The smaller Fallas will start building theirs around the 12th or 13th but the large ones, like mine start about a week beforehand. My neighbourhood has been in full Fallas mode since the middle of last week. The structures are in their places covered up in plastic waiting to be erected. Last night the Fallas party tent was in full swing and the kids have been setting off patardos (firecrackers) outside my window for the last week. Luckily the weather deterred some so it wasn’t too bad but now it’s all back. Today they resumed with the Mascleta. The smaller firecrackers are back too with constant pop pop pop and loud BANGS that sound like gunshots and cars backfiring. That’s the part I hate.

Next week we’ll start seeing all of the structures go up as they need to be up and ready by the 15th. Not to worry….I will take many pictures! But for now, here are some of the early signs of Fallas from the Ninot exhibit and around my neighbourhood to get you all in the mood. Happy Fallas everyone and see you all again soon after it’s all over! 🙂

Stay tuned for what the final Fallas looks like!