Las Fallas

So it’s here. The big week. The week leading up to the climax of Las Fallas 2017 on March 19^th. And we’re not in Valencia.

It’s true to say that we have a tenant in our apartment March-July, so we couldn’t stay there in any case. But it’s also true to say that we haven’t summoned the courage and commitment to experience the astonishing spectacle that is Fallas. It’s very Valencian, it’s sacred to most Valencians, and it might just be too intense for a couple of extranjeros, but this remains to be seen.

For educative purposes, I’ve “borrowed” a short synopsis to explain Las Fallas from all that’s good and great about the internet, namely Wikipedia:

Falles (Valencian) or Las Fallas (Spanish) is a traditional celebration held in commemoration of Saint Joseph in the city of Valencia, Spain. The term Falles refers to both the celebration and the monuments burnt during the celebration. A number of towns in the Valencian Community have similar celebrations inspired by the original Falles de Valéncia celebration. The Falles festival was added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage of humanity list on 30 November 2016.

The writer may not have experienced it directly, but it’s clear that you cannot have a blog about Valencia without talking about Las Fallas.

It’s the law.

I’ve only dipped a very tentative toe into the water where Fallas is concerned, at least to date. I know people who leave the city a few days before Fallas begins, and will not return until the last tiny piece of charred debris has been hosed off the city streets. I also know of (many more) people who find this festival, and the adrenaline-fuelled build-up to the week itself, the absolutely unmissable highlight of the year. I don’t yet know which side I’m on.

What I do know is that Fallas is A VERY BIG DEAL.

Beyond the synopsis above, I’m not going to describe Fallas here. I don’t know enough about it yet, and there is already more material on the web than you can read in a lifetime. This blog is not a guide to the cultural life of the city in any case, it’s just a (hopefully mildly entertaining) record of my/our experiences.

My first encounter with Fallas was entirely by accident, and entirely as a result of complete ignorance. Preparing a photo shoot for later in the year, we were visiting Valencia on a recce trip… can we shoot here? Can we get vehicles in there? Can we get permits for that? And so on. Around the time of La Mascleta, we were trying to find somewhere to eat lunch close to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

I know.

Those of you who know the city and the festival will be aware of the utter folly of this. Those of you who don’t, perhaps imagine attempting to lay out a tartan picnic blanket with cucumber sandwiches, cream scones and lashings of ginger beer at 11.55pm in Trafalgar Square on 31^st December.

You get the picture.

We retreated to Kiosco la Pergola, just across the Jardin del Turia from the city centre, and enjoyed a great lunch. You must go there by the way. But like I said, this isn’t a guide.

When I say “we” enjoyed, I mean all except one. Our Valencian producer and location scout was very firmly in the “absolutely unmissable” camp, and we were forcing her to miss it. Our utter ignorance of a festival she held very close to her warm Valencian heart, our terrible timing, and our decision to MOVE AWAY from La Mascleta for lunch had made her beyond sulky. Mediterranean angry. Not only could we still hear the Mascleta, it was on TV in the café. This didn’t help.

Knowing what I now know, there would be no circumstances where I would ask a proud Valencian to work for an ignorant Englishman in the most culturally significant week of the Valencian calendar.

(Very briefly, La Mascleta is a daytime firework display. Possibly without equal for intensity and noise, it is an important daily event in the weeks leading up to the climax of Las Fallas on March 19^th).

My understanding of the cultural and social significance of this event has been developed somewhat by social media. I ease the pain of my absence from VLC by living there in social media world. If you are in touch with Valencian users and social media networks, you will be in touch with the Fallas phenomenon. Twitter in particular is alive with Fallas all year round, but gains special momentum as soon as Los Tres Reyes Magos have been and gone by the end of the first week of January. There are so many Twitter accounts connected to Fallas that the news feed is endless, and the excitement obvious. The fervour is enclosed in one compact city (to a lesser extent in the outlying community) and this intensifies it.

We experienced some of the build-up in February 2016. We were working towards the purchase of our apartment, and were moving around the city between banks, real estate agents, apartment viewings and notaries. Fallas appeared without warning in so many places. “Rehearsal” parades would appear in city streets, fireworks can be heard everywhere, and occasionally the open doors of a Casal Faller would reveal the hasty final preparation of another incredible ninot.

The Plaza de la Virgen would regularly see gatherings of Falleras in their incredible traditional costumes. They would appear in ones and twos, the younger ones with their adult chaperones. As their numbers swelled, they would dance in large groups in front of a rapt audience, and there would be speeches. There was an electric sense of anticipation of bigger things to come.

So, for 2017 at least, it will all be over in a week’s time. The "run for the hills" people will return, the “absolutely unmissable” people will get some sleep and perhaps visit their ear specialist. And we’ll have missed it again.

Las Fallas 2018? We will see.