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The Fallas Festival in Valencia
After almost a year
of preparations there begins two weeks of various celebrations, Valencia
overflows with gaiety, energy and fireworks during the celebration of
its Major Festival: the
Fallas. This regional capital by the Mediterranean coast near the mouth
of the river Turia celebrates in tremendous style, one of the best known
and emblematic festivals of Spain, as well known as the San Fermin festival
in Pamplona.
Fallas portray scathing, critical and often humorous
effigies of important events, both Nationally and Internationally. The
Fallas, from 13th to 19th of March, are creations of paper mache, wood
and wax, which the Valencians, divided into different groups according
to quarters or barrios and even streets, staged in the streets and burnt
on the night of the
feast of St. Joseph. These figures, called "ninots" by the
Valencians, portray events and personalities of the day. The ninots,
half satirical, half symbolical, are created in a style
somewhere between comic strips and Walt Disney cartoons. The figures,
which represents a whole year's work for hundreds of people, are burnt
on the night of March 19th in towering flames, and each bonfire is a
temple devoted to this colossal festival of fire.
The Fallas are divided into seven important stages. Public
enthusiasm ensures that Valencia is adorned in festival garb and everybody
takes to the streets. The ceremonies which make up the whole week of
the festival are: the nomination and proclamation of the Queens of the
Fallas for the year, the Exaltation, the Crida, the Cavalcade of the
Ninot the Offering of Flowers, the Planta and the Crema.
The "Mascletá" is the noisiest act of
the whole Fallas celebration. Rows of and single firecrackers (by the
thousands), make Valencia the most deafening place in the world to be!!
The Exaltation is, with the Offering of Flowers, one
of the most colourful moments of the Fallas. In this ceremony, Valencians
and the various institutions pay homage to the Falla Queens who
receive their sashes and jewels of office in the Palau de la Musica.
As the Attendant Courts of the Falla Queen and the Falla Princess go
up to the stage, the place begins to be filled with
baskets of flowers donated by Valencian and a few Spanish collectives.
One of the most important figures at the Exaltation is the chairman,
who represents the world of culture and makes a speech to all those
present which can be of a justificatory or political nature or poetic.
The Offering of Flowers to Our Lady of the Foresaken
is the ceremony for which Valencia is entirely dressed in its best and
renders homage at the feet of her patron saint, offering
thousands of bouquets of flowers, baskets of posies and floral shrine
arrangements. During the twenty-four hours which the Offering lasts,
the Virgin, fondly referred to by the Valencians
as "Geperudeta", receives her tribute. On this day, the sobriquet
of Valencia, city of flowers becomes reality, and the Basilica square
is turned into a beautiful and colorful garden, with more than thirty
tons of flowers decorating just one of the principal squares of the
city.
The "Planta" is the ceremony which everyone
awaits with impatience. On 15 March the paper mache effigies are assembled,
not without a considerable struggle, in the squares and streets
of Valencia. Hundreds of these Fallas invade the city, as many as there
are houses to make them. On this day the creations of the "fallero"
artists are displayed, the work of hundreds of
specialists: carpenters, painters, sculptors, designers, etc. The effigies
and ninots are admired by all, Valencians and tourists. The Fallas show
off their lively colors and enormous size, and make clear which personalities
have been the focus of public opinion and attention. There are few Spanish
politicians who escape from the satire of the "fallero" masters.
The Crema is the culmination of the Fallas. For some
it is the saddest moment, while for others it is the high point of the
festival. On the night of the feast of St. Joseph, 19 March, the
Fallas are lit. The last effigies to be devoured by the flames are those
Fallas that have been awarded prizes by the Genrakl Fallas Committee
and those in the City Hall square. Only one
"ninot" is saved each year, from the flames by popular vote,
and exhibited in the Museum of the Ninot together with those from various
years which won the same privilege. Kilos and kilos of fireworks surround
the monuments. At about midnight Valencia goes up in flames. The spectacle
of the fire and noise, produced by more than three hundred fires spread
throughout the city, is quite something to see.
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