Its Fiesta time again in Valencia. (lets, face it, it is always fiesta time somewhere in Valencia). If you happen to be in Valencia from 15th to the 19th of March each year, you no doubt have gone to see the Fallas. If you have just arrived there for a holiday thinking this seems a nice part of Spain – you are in for one heck of surprise. Apart from being one of the biggest and most exciting festivals in Spain, the celebration of St. Joseph Day, it is also “El dia de la Padre” – Father’s Day. It is also the nosiest in the whole of Europe!
These celebrations are not confined to the City of Valencia however. All over the province, similar activities will be taking place in every town and village – nobody is spared. You think Guy Fawkes in England is bad – until you have seen the Fallas, you have seen, and heard, nothing.
St Joseph is the patron saint of carpenters and is the official reason for holding the festival every year. In the Middle Ages, carpenters used to hang up planks of wood called parots in the winter to support their candles and oil lamps when they were preparing wood in their workshops. At the end of winter, as the days grew longer, the carpenters would build a bonfire and burn the wood. Over time, the carpenters would put clothing on the parot, to decorate the workshop – and this started a tradition, where they would try to make the parot identifiable with a particular person – the local mayor or politician. These figurines, as they were becoming, formed the basis of the modern-day ninots, the huge wood and plastic effigies of today. Because the practice was so popular, the authorities decided to link the burning of the parots with Saint Joseph’s Day, And so the tradition of the Fallas was born.
Nowadays, each area of the City has an organising committee, the casal faller, who raise the necessary finances for constructing the ninots. Groups of neighbours come together each year to design and build their own ‘ninots’. There is strong competition between these groups as to who can build the best images. At the beginning of March, these figures begin to appear in prominent parts of the city and actually become a tourist attraction. Large companies use the figures for advertising purposes and sponsor these building groups in exchange for advertising space on the giant models.
In our local town of Alberic, thirty miles south of Valencia City, celebrations have already begun – and Fathers Day is not for another five days! Roads are closed off by the local police so that parades can take place in safety. Children throw fireworks everywhere, creating lots of smoke, noise and mayhem. These Spaniards take their fiesta very, very seriously.
If you decide to go to Valencia, prepare for a very early start. Every day of the Fallas begins with La Despertà, your ‘early-morning wake-up call’. This starts at around 8 o’clock in the morning with brass bands marching up and down the streets, accompanied by men and children throwing fireworks into every doorway and street entrance. And they are not just ordinary fireworks. These are very powerful firecrackers whose shockwaves are powerful enough to set off car alarms and burglar alarms on shops and offices as they make their way down the street – and back again.
All day, you’ll see processions of pretty women, girls and children, all dressed in traditional costume. The men also dress for the occasion. All the streets in the city become one big ‘street party’ with parades, beauty shows, paella competitions and of course – a bullfight in the bullring next to the central station. And then, you will hear the explosions! At 2 0’clock every afternoon during the week leading up to the 19th, La Mascletá begins. This takes the form of large explosive fireworks hanging from an aerial suspension system set up at various points around the city, but especially at the Town Hall Square (Plaza ayuntamiento) in the City centre.
If you can imagine being in the middle of a war zone with shells dropping all around you, you will come some way to understanding the noise, smoke and body vibrating shockwaves that are about to hit you. Pregnant women are forbidden from attending and each year people are injured or faint. I can still remember seeing Ian Wright, the presenter of ‘Globetrekker’ running for cover while they were filming a TV special for the series. In the eight years that we have lived here, we have only visited the fallas once on the main day. We now limit ourselves to watching the live transmissions on TV. Being in the middle of Valencia City at Fallas time is not advisable for the feint hearted.
On the final night, 19th March, there is the Night of Fire – La Nit de Foc. This is the finale of the Fallas where all the characters are burned – in the main city streets. Needless to say, all police and fire personal are on duty that night and ready for any eventuality with fire engines discretely parked at strategic position around the City. The fires are spectacular. Some of the effigies are filled with fireworks, so they explode as well as burn. Some of these effigies are 30 foot tall and reach to the top of some of the buildings. Only one of the hundreds of characters throughout the city survives this ordeal by fire. The public vote for the best ninot to be preserved in the Fallas Museum.
On Sunday (the day after Father’s Day) we are hosting a lunch party for 20 people. My special honey roasted ribs are always in demand, and there will also be roasted chicken thighs, drumsticks, sausages and black pudding (they never get paella when I am cooking).
As a special treat, Sheila is making a good Old Fashioned English Rice Pudding. That should help to give them their ‘fix’ of rice in lieu of their paella. God knows what they will think of rice cooked with cream and sugar instead of chicken and rabbit. We will give you the recipe for the ribs and rosemary roasted chicken thighs in a later article.
The next fiesta is just around the corner. Easter is only a few weeks away, which means another week of fireworks, religious parades, parties – and even more paella!
Bill & Sheila
