When you are touring Valencia, Spain, make sure to plan your itinerary
such that you get to catch a few festivals and events in Valencia. The
Valencia festivals are great opportunities to get familiar with the
peculiar customs and rituals, cultures and beliefs of a people. La Fallas
Fiesta, Valencia is one of the greatest festivals in Spain, and is also
renowned the world over drawing in tourists by the hordes. La Fallas
Fiesta, Valencia is a pyrotechnic extravaganza that literally has the
whole region up in flames.
About La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia
La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia takes place in the middle of the month of March
and is a week-long affair comprising of spectacular fireworks displays,
burning of wooden statues, reverence of saints and of course, unbounded
merrymaking and revelry. La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia, Spain is actually
celebrated as a day of feasting in honor of St. Joseph, the patron saint
of the carpenters. Las Fallas means "the fires" in the Valencian tongue and the high point of
La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia is the creation and burning of massive sized
and vibrantly colored cardboard, wooden and plastic statues, called
"ninots". These ninots are themselves fine works of art and exhibit
stunning realism. Some of them are up to several stories tall and most are
crafted to resemble Spanish celebrities and politicians (the idea is to
poke a fun at them). During La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia, the ninots are
placed at all the pivotal thoroughfares and junctions of Valencia. These ninots stay here for the entire length of La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia
and on March 19th, they are punctured, stuffed with firecrackers and set
on fire just as the clock strikes twelve midnight amidst loud cheers. Other festivities of the La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia include open-air
concerts and floral offerings to Madrededeu dels Desamparats, the patron
saint (female) of Valencia.
About the Origins of La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia
It is widely believed that the La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia and especially
the fire rituals therein owe their origins to pagan beliefs and rites that
were observed to usher spring and the planting season. It is also believed that during the 16th century, the folks in Valencia
used streetlights only during the winter nights. These lights were hung on
wooden poles called parots. When the summer months with their longer days
arrived, these parots were no longer required and were then ceremoniously
burned on St. Joseph's Day. This is believed to be the origin of La Fallas
Fiesta, Valencia.
La Fallas Fiesta, Valencia is a time for unbridled enjoyment for the
Valencia folks and an occasion for the visitors to Valencia to savor
probably the most unique of the festivals in Spain.
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