This festival takes place at the same time each year. This was our first visit, and prompted by the
U3A organising a coach trip from Jalon.
We were dropped a good 15 minute walk from the old town, no
coaches were allowed into the city itself.
Most of the roads were closed to traffic, and there were dense crowds
everywhere.
Each neighbourhood has its own Fallas group who create these
large constructions which are paraded around the city, and then burnt. They are impressive works of art, and large
groups of visitors roam the streets admiring them.
We visited the Denia Fallas some years ago, so we knew what
to expect. We were warned that the
Valencia one was much larger. But we
were not ready for the great mass of people all over the city.
Our visit was the day before the Fallas are burned. It was to watch “L’Ofrena de flors”. Each falla casal parades through the streets
with an offering of flowers to the Virgin Mary.
Each group is dressed in traditional costume, and are led by
their own band. All of the streets in
the city centre are closed for the parade, which starts at 3pm and goes on well
into the night.
Although there are crowds watching the parade, it is not too
difficult to get a good position to watch.
Even near the main square we managed to find a good spot about ten
minutes before the parade started.
It is very much a family affair, and most of the children
seemed to be very well behaved. But it
was all proving a little too much for this little chap.
The younger children have pride of place at the head of each
group. The little girls look lovely in
their smaller versions of the traditional dress.
This little pair looked particularly cute. They take it all very serious, and there is
very little childish playing around.
But this little chap obviously needed a little distraction.
After an hour we had enough of the parade. We wanted to see the large statute of Our
Lady of the Abandoned. This is where all
the flowers are handed over to the team who place them on the large wooden
frame.
We then rambled around the city centre looking at some of
the Fallas. We were impressed that
drinks and snacks were normal prices, no more than one euro for a beer. And away from the main square it was easy to
find a pavement cafe to sit and watch the parade go past.
It was just before 2pm when we arrived, and would have until
9pm before the coach left. We expected
it might be difficult to pass seven hours.
But there was so much to see, and it covered such a large area, that we
only managed to see a very small part of it all.
As we got further from the city centre the parade still
filled the streets, but it seemed to be less organised. Perhaps we were in a staging area. Though formed, the parade was not
moving. This group of little girls took
the opportunity to sit and have a break.
It must be a very long day, particularly for the young
children. This pair seemed to be
experimenting with a tube of lipstick.
Refreshed by a light snack we continued our exploration of
the Fallas, and finally found our way back to the main square about 7pm. We were surprised to find the parade still
going strong, almost four hours after it started. All of the streets were still closed, and it
was not even possible to cross the road as there were barriers on each side.
Finally we found a nice bar in the main square and had a
pizza and glass of wine. The crowds
seemed to get even bigger as night fell, and there were an endless selection of
bands to watch and listen to. We did
enjoy our day, even though it was very tiring.
We were very pleased, and relieved, to find our coach waiting for us
when we found our way back to the collection point.
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