¡¡FALLAS!!

Okay, so this is about 2 weeks late, but here's to one of the coolest and excitingly pointless (as my students managed to point out) festivals in Valencia, Spain.  It's called "Fallas" (Fai-yas) and it's a valencian word for "Fire".


A long time ago, carpenters and farmers used to get together to burn their rubbish, and the carpenters would create crazy statues out of the rubbish as a form of entertainment prior to burning the trash.  Well, the tradition became so popular that in conjunction with celebrating St. Joseph (patron saint of carpentry apparently) the tradition stuck and Valencia has been having these festivals for quite a long time.  Today they are just more elaborate and celebrated.


But, you guessed it, the two major themes of the festival:  Building stuff and then burning it down!  It's a pyromaniac's dream!


So what are these things they burn down?  The statues, easily enough, are called Fallas, and they are made out of wood, plaster, and paper maché.  They can be anywhere from 3 feet tall to 5 stories tall and can cost up to $75,000 to build.  They are often satirical, playing off themes of art, music, corruption, politics, and everyday life.  (Notice Michael Jackson in one, Humpty Dumpty and Pac-Man in the other. . . also note how big they are compared to the people around them!)

The festival goes a total of 5 days, and is truly a 24 hour party!  Every plaza in Valencia has it's own Falla, so there is never a shortage of new, comical, crazy things to see!  On the 4th day is the "Nit de Foc"  (pronounced: Neat-day-Folk), or the night of fire where they have a firework show startng at 10pm!  There is also the daily "Mascletà" (pronounced: Mah-sclay-tah) which is a show at 2pm of literally firecrackers for 10 minutes.  Very cool.  Very loud.  Think:  LOTS of smoke and the decibel level of a drag race if you're up close!   And then Day 5 - The Cremà, or the burning of the Fallas, beginning at 10pm and lasting until 2 in the morning.  3 story bonfires!!!!  SO much fun!  Best March 15-19 ever!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!