I really don’t know how to begin to explain Fallas. To say that it is a festival is an understatement and doesn’t capture the uniqueness of this event, but I suppose that is how I should begin. According to fallasfromvalencia.com, the festival is “intended as a tribute to St. Joseph, patron saint of the carpenters' guild, where – it is said - the tradition arose from.” The bulk of the festival takes place in March. I say “bulk” because this is not a 1 or 2-day celebration. Fallas kicks off at the end of February with La Crida (the calling) and the main part of the festival occurs from March 15-19. But the weeks in between are filled with a daily mascleta (firecracker display), parades, a ninot (fallas sculpture) exposition, and countless other activities that you can watch on the local channels.
By far, the two highlights of the Fallas are the mascleta and the ninots. And Miia would probably add the Fallas Queens/princesses/court (falleras) to the list. First the mascleta…Every day at 2 PM, in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall Square – which is roughly the size of an American football field), a 5 minute choreographed firecracker (another understatement since these aren’t the firecrackers you buy at the stands in Indy) show filled with SOUND and ending with lots of smoke takes place. Each mascleta is different as each day’s show is set up and choreographed (it really is) by a different pyrotechnician. The girls and I watched today’s mascleta on the television where the following stats are shown: a decibel level meter and the amount of gun powder used for the firecrackers. Today’s decibel level ranged from 86 to 120. The amount in kg of gunpowder used: 165. EVERY SINGLE DAY, since March 1, this takes place at these same levels. The amount of smoke generated by that much gunpowder is incredible, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be right in the middle of it all, although we’ll get our chance this Thursday (more on that later). It’s a spectacle that is truly unbelievable and should probably be experienced live at least once. After that, at least for me, watching it from the comfort of home is enough!
And if the mascleta isn’t enough, there are your everyday firecrackers used by the general public. At first, I thought we just had to watch out for groups of teenage boys carrying plastic bags. But no, firecrackers-throwing is a family event. This past Sunday, probably the first non-rainy weekend of Fallas, we saw whole families gathered together in playgrounds and plazas with their bags of firecrackers. Kids younger than Miia were lighting and throwing them. Even grandparents got involved. Firecracker-throwing is an equal opportunity, family affair here in Valencia. And by our apartment, it happens from the time school lets out until 10 or so unless the hotel nearby has a lot of guests and decides to call the police (which they don’t do until somebody throws one of those loud, booming ones). Then, I watch, amused, as a policeman on a moped drives (on the sidewalk, of course) to have a chat with the kids. They leave for awhile and then return when they know that the moped police have moved on to the next park.
And now the “ninots” – These are elaborate papier-mache sculptures created by artists/carpenters/sculptors (I suppose this is where the St. Joseph reference applies) for each neighborhood in Valencia. These individual ninots range anywhere from 1 to 8 feet tall and are then used to create a larger Fallas monument that can be at least THREE STORIES HIGH. Yes, as in three stories of a building. There will be over 300 of these towering monuments, one for each neighborhood. These sculptures will stand in some prominent, open space in the neighborhood and should be fully installed and ready for viewing by the 15th of March. The grand Finale on March 19 of Las Fallas is the BURNING of all but one of the ninots. That these elaborate, detailed, time-intensive works go up in smoke at the end of the festival just amazes me. It must be an awesome sight, and I’m looking forward to that experience, although I’m a little concerned about 300 papier-mache/tyrofoam sculptures burning in the city at the same time.
We have tried to prepare ourselves for the Fallas, learning what we can and taking part in as many of the events as possible. In my next blog, I’ll share just how we’ve been getting involved and creating our own Fallas experience.
By far, the two highlights of the Fallas are the mascleta and the ninots. And Miia would probably add the Fallas Queens/princesses/court (falleras) to the list. First the mascleta…Every day at 2 PM, in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall Square – which is roughly the size of an American football field), a 5 minute choreographed firecracker (another understatement since these aren’t the firecrackers you buy at the stands in Indy) show filled with SOUND and ending with lots of smoke takes place. Each mascleta is different as each day’s show is set up and choreographed (it really is) by a different pyrotechnician. The girls and I watched today’s mascleta on the television where the following stats are shown: a decibel level meter and the amount of gun powder used for the firecrackers. Today’s decibel level ranged from 86 to 120. The amount in kg of gunpowder used: 165. EVERY SINGLE DAY, since March 1, this takes place at these same levels. The amount of smoke generated by that much gunpowder is incredible, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be right in the middle of it all, although we’ll get our chance this Thursday (more on that later). It’s a spectacle that is truly unbelievable and should probably be experienced live at least once. After that, at least for me, watching it from the comfort of home is enough!
And if the mascleta isn’t enough, there are your everyday firecrackers used by the general public. At first, I thought we just had to watch out for groups of teenage boys carrying plastic bags. But no, firecrackers-throwing is a family event. This past Sunday, probably the first non-rainy weekend of Fallas, we saw whole families gathered together in playgrounds and plazas with their bags of firecrackers. Kids younger than Miia were lighting and throwing them. Even grandparents got involved. Firecracker-throwing is an equal opportunity, family affair here in Valencia. And by our apartment, it happens from the time school lets out until 10 or so unless the hotel nearby has a lot of guests and decides to call the police (which they don’t do until somebody throws one of those loud, booming ones). Then, I watch, amused, as a policeman on a moped drives (on the sidewalk, of course) to have a chat with the kids. They leave for awhile and then return when they know that the moped police have moved on to the next park.
And now the “ninots” – These are elaborate papier-mache sculptures created by artists/carpenters/sculptors (I suppose this is where the St. Joseph reference applies) for each neighborhood in Valencia. These individual ninots range anywhere from 1 to 8 feet tall and are then used to create a larger Fallas monument that can be at least THREE STORIES HIGH. Yes, as in three stories of a building. There will be over 300 of these towering monuments, one for each neighborhood. These sculptures will stand in some prominent, open space in the neighborhood and should be fully installed and ready for viewing by the 15th of March. The grand Finale on March 19 of Las Fallas is the BURNING of all but one of the ninots. That these elaborate, detailed, time-intensive works go up in smoke at the end of the festival just amazes me. It must be an awesome sight, and I’m looking forward to that experience, although I’m a little concerned about 300 papier-mache/tyrofoam sculptures burning in the city at the same time.
We have tried to prepare ourselves for the Fallas, learning what we can and taking part in as many of the events as possible. In my next blog, I’ll share just how we’ve been getting involved and creating our own Fallas experience.
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