Falles
The Falles or Fallas is
a traditional celebration held in commemoration of Saint Joseph in the city of Valencia, in Spain. The term Falles refers to both
the celebration and the monuments created during the celebration. A number of
towns in the Valencia Community have
similar celebrations inspired by the original one in Valencia.
Each neighbourhood of the city has an organized group of people, the Casal
faller, that works all year long holding fundraising parties and dinners,
usually featuring the famous dish, paella a specialty of the region. Each casal
faller produces a construction known as a falla which is eventually
burnt. A casal faller is also known as a comissió fallera.
Falles and ninots
Formerly, much time would be spent by the Casal faller preparing the
ninots (Valencian for puppets or dolls). During the four days leading up
to 19 March, each group takes its ninot out for a grand parade, and then
mounts it, each on its own elaborate firecracker-filled cardboard and paper-mâché artistic monument in a street
of the given neighbourhood. This whole assembly is a falla.
The ninots and their falles are constructed according to an
agreed upon theme that has traditionally been, and continues to be, a satirical
jab at anything or anyone who draws the attention of the critical eyes of the falleros—the
celebrants themselves. In modern times, the whole two week long festival has
spawned a huge local industry, to the point that an entire suburban area has
been designated the City of Falles – Ciutat fallera. Here, crews of
artists and artisans, sculptors, painters, and many others all spend months
producing elaborate constructions of paper and wax, wood and styrofoam tableaux
towering up to five stories, composed of fanciful figures in outrageous poses
arranged in gravity-defying architecture. Each of them is produced at the
direction of one of the many individual neighbourhood Casals fallers who
vie with each other to attract the best artists, and then to create the most
outrageous monument to their target. There are more than 500 different falles
in Valencia, including those of other towns in the Valencian Community.
During Falles, many people wear their casal faller dress in regional
and historical costumes from different eras of Valencia's history; the dolÇAina
and tabalet d (a kind of Valencian drum)
are frequently heard, as most of the different casals fallers have their own
traditional bands.
Although the Falles is a very traditional event and many
participants dress in medieval clothing, the ninots for 2005 included
such modern characters as Shrek and Beorge W. Bursh, and the 2012 Falles
included characters like Barack Obama and
Lady Gaga.
Events during Falles
The five days and nights of Falles are a continuous party. There are
a multitude of processions: historical, religious, and comedic. Crowds in the
restaurants spill out into the streets. Explosions can be heard all day long
and sporadically through the night. Foreigners may be surprised to see everyone
from small children to elderly gentlemen throwing fireworks and noisemakers in
the streets, which are littered with pyrotechnical debris. The timing of the
events is fixed and they fall on the same date every year, though there has
been discussion about holding some events on the weekend preceding the Falles,
to take greater advantage of the tourist potential of the festival[ or changing the end date in years where
it is due to occur in midweek.
Each day of Falles begins at 8:00 am with La Despertà ("the
wake-up call"). Brass bands appear from the casals and begin to march down
every street playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers,
throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go.
La Mascletà
The Mascletà, an explosive barrage of coordinated firecracker and fireworks
displays, takes place in each neighbourhood at 2:00 pm every day of the
festival; the main event is the municipal Mascletà in the Plaça de
l'Ajuntament where the pyrotechnicians compete for the honor of providing
the final Mascletà of the fiestas (on 19 March). At 2:00 pm the clock chimes
and the Fallera Mayor (dressed in her fallera finery) will call from the
balcony of City Hall Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la mascletà!
("Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascletà!"), and the Mascletà
begins.
The Mascletà is almost unique to the Valencian Community, hugely popular
with the Valencian people and found in very few other places in the world.
Smaller neighbourhoods often hold their own mascletà for saint's days, weddings
and other celebrations.
La Plantà
The day of the 15th all of the falles infantils are to be finished
being constructed and later that night all of the falles majors (major
Falles) are to be completed. If not, they face disqualification.
L'Ofrena de flors
In this event, the flower offering, each falla casal takes an offering of
flowers to the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Abandoned. This occurs all day
during 17–18 March. A statue of the Virgin Mary and its large pedestal are then
covered with all the flowers.
Els Castells and La Nit del Foc
On the nights of the 15, 16, 17, and 18th there are firework displays in
the old riverbed in Valencia. Each night is progressively grander and the last
is called La Nit del Foc (the Night of Fire).
Cabalgata del Fuego
On the final evening of Falles, at 7pm on March 19, a parade known in
Spanish as the Cabalgata del Fuego (the Fire Parade) takes place along
Colon street and Porta de la Mar square. This spectacular celebration of fire,
the symbol of the fiesta’s spirit, is the grand finale of Falles and a
colourful, noisy event featuring exhibitions of the varied rites and displays
from around the world which use fire; it incorporates floats, giant mechanisms,
people in costumes, rockets, gunpowder, street performances and music.
La Cremà
On the final night of Falles, around midnight on March 19, these falles
are burnt as huge bonfires. This is known as La Cremà (the Burning), the
climax of the whole event, and the reason why the constructions are called falles
("torches"). Traditionally, the falla in the Plaça de l'Ajuntament
is burned last.
Many neighbourhoods have a falla infantil (a children's falla,
smaller and without satirical themes), which is held a few metres away from the
main one. This is burnt first, at 10:00 pm. The main neighbourhood falles
are burnt closer to midnight; the burning of the falles in the city
centre often starts later. For example, in 2005, the fire brigade delayed the
burning of the Egyptian funeral falla in Carrer del Convent de
Jerusalem until 1:30 am, when they were sure all safety concerns were
addressed.
Each falla is laden with fireworks which are lit first. The
construction itself is lit either after or during the explosion of these
fireworks. Falles burn quite quickly, and the heat given off is felt by
all around. The heat from the larger ones often drives the crowd back a couple
of metres, even though they are already behind barriers that the fire brigade
has set several metres from the construction. In narrower streets, the heat
scorches the surrounding buildings, and the firemen douse the façades, window
blinds, street signs, etc. with their hoses to stop them catching fire or
melting, from the beginning of the cremà until it cools down after
several minutes.
Away from the falles, people frolic in the streets, the whole city
resembling an open-air dance party, except that instead of music there is the
incessant (and occasionally deafening) sound of people throwing fireworks
around randomly. There are stalls selling products such as the typical fried
snacks porres, xurros and bunyols, as well as roasted
chestnuts or trinkets.
