What to know about Las Fallas in Valencia

What I always admire in the Valencian people is their commitment to tradition. The Las Fallas festival is maybe the best example. Las Fallas in Valencia is not only a tradition or a festival; for many people Las Fallas is a lifestyle.

Las Fallas in Valencia is the biggest street festival in Europe. It’s hard to explain the impact of the festival for the city to someone that have never experienced it before. I’ll give it a try by explaining some of the most important terminology. And additional you can see the video of the festival that I attached (with subtitles in English).

Guide to Las Fallas in Valencia Festival

• Fallera Mayor de Valencia is the queen of the Fallas. A jury chooses her every year from all the Fallera Mayores from the different Fallas clubs.
• Corte de Honor is the court of honor. The Fallera Mayor has a court of 12 Falleras that accompany her. There is also a Fallera Mayor Infantil (a child) and she has 12 child Falleras on her side too.
• Las Fallas de Valencia is the name of the festival that is held in Valencia during the week Fallera with the final day on March 19^th, St. Joseph’s day.

• Crida is the official opening of Las Fallas on the last Sunday of February. The Fallera Mayor gets the key of the city from the mayor. There are fireworks and a music and lightshow. All clubs gather for this event at the Torres de Serranos. This year it is held on February 25^th at 20:00 hrs.
• Plantà is on the 15^th and the 16^th of March. On these days the Fallas statues are placed on the final spot in the district of the club. First on the 15^th they place the Fallas Infantiles and It has to be finished on these days for the jury to judge.
• Ofrenda is the offering of flowers on the 17^th and 18^th of March all day long. The festivals Falleras from all the commissions Falleras come to the Plaza de la Virgen in the city center with a flower bouquet to offer these to the patron saint Nuestra señora de los Desemparados.

• Every day from the 1^st till the 19^th of March there is a Mascletà at exact 14:00 hrs on the town-hall square. This is a show of firecrackers, which takes around 5 minutes. The more noise the better and the final has to be spectacular. This is one of the pyrotechnic shows that is Valencia known for.
• In the morning, the Despertà will wake you up. Groups will walk through the streets with enormous firecrackers. They will throw them out of the little wooden boxes that they carry.

• Nit de Foc is a spectacular Castillo de Fuegos or fireworks show on the 18^th of March. This is the night before the final night.
• La Cremà is the end of the Fallas, when they burn the statues that are located all over the city. The fires start in the evening of the 19^th of March.
• Chocolate con Churros is something you need to try when you’re in Valencia for Fallas. It is thick chocolate milk with kind of donuts. You can buy it all over the city.

There is more, but the only way to truly learn about the Las Fallas festival is to participate. It is definitely one of those things you need to put on your Spain bucket-list for a once in a lifetime experience. View my Las Fallas video. 

If this list makes you want to move to Valencia, check out what you need to know about housing, food, and transport prices in out Cost of Living Guide below: