Michael Powell's Blog, page 67
March 27, 2015
La Cremà – Valencia in Flames
Beginning at midnight on March 19th, the festival of Fallas reaches its fiery, conclusive end with the Cremà, when all of the giant monuments occupying the streets go up in flames. It’s a darkly beautiful, and emotionally-charged event, which leaves the city in a state of semi-shock.
It’s hard to overstate exactly how crazy la Cremà is. In one single night, hundreds of monuments are purposely set on fire. These are exquisitely-crafted pieces, which can cost hundreds of thousands of euros, an...
March 26, 2015
Fallas: Fiesta of Fire
“Foc” is Valencian for “Fire”, but you’ll be forgiven for screaming out a very similar-sounding English word while watching either the Cabalgata de Foc (Parade of Fire), or the Nit de Foc (Night of Fire). Because these events are foc-ing insane.
The daily 2pm mascletàs are not the only fireworks of Fallas. On the 15th, 16th and 17th, there are more conventional shows over the Turia River, around the Puente de las Flores, and Valencia’s brilliant “Night of Fire” is on March 18th. The Nit de F...
March 24, 2015
Buñuelos: The Traditional Snack of Fallas
Throughout Fallas, the smell of smoke and gunpowder is unavoidable on the streets of Valencia… but another odor is almost as prominent: that of greasy, deep-fried goodness. On seemingly every other corner, there’s a stand selling buñuelos. A sweet, delicious artery-clogging nightmare, buñuelos are Valencia’s favorite festival snack… especially good when dipped into cups of thick, rich chocolate.
Buñuelos look like disfigured, golden donuts, basically round in shape and with a hole in the cen...
La Ofrenda — Flowers for the Virgin
One of the most important events of Fallas is la Ofrenda, when tens of thousands of traditionally-clad falleros and falleras converge on Valencia, bearing flowers for the massive wooden figure of Our Lady of the Forsaken in the Plaza de la Virgen.
Traditionally, Fallas doesn’t have much to do with religion; it began as a way to celebrate the end of winter, with sarcasm and fire. But the church has never met a festival that it hasn’t wanted to appropriate… and so we have La Ofrenda. Today, it...
March 21, 2015
The Monuments of Fallas 2015: #7 – #12
Fallas is over. And the monuments which, for a few brief days, graced the streets of Valencia have been reduced to ash and smoke. But we’ll always have the pictures! Here are the monuments which made up the bottom half of this year’s sección especial, as voted on by the judges. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t great — some of these were among our favorites.
7. Sueca-Literato Azorín
Spanglish Definitely one of the more clever monuments this year was Sueca-Literato Azorín’s take on the Spani...
March 20, 2015
The Monuments of Fallas 2015: #1 – #6
During Fallas, approximately 600 monuments are constructed around the city, but the very best are in a category called the Sección Especial. This year, we visited all twelve monuments in the top section. Considering how much time and effort the artists put into them, it seemed like the least we could do.
Here are the top six monuments of Fallas 2015, in order of how they finished. Is your favorite among them? Soon, we’ll publish recaps of the rest of the sección especial, but these were 2015’...
March 16, 2015
La Plantà — Fallas Comes to Life
Early on the morning of March 15th, before the sun has even appeared in the sky, the artists of Valencia are hard at work. This is the day of La Plantà, when hundreds of fallas, or monuments, are erected throughout the city.
If you’re planning on driving through Valencia on the 15th, just forget it. Seriously, find a place to park, and forget about your car for the next few days. Because between the Plantà to the Cremà, at midnight on March 19th, Valencian streets belong to Fallas. The neigh...
March 13, 2015
The Romería a la Magdalena in Castellón
We tend to get so wrapped up in Fallas fever, that we forget about festivals happening in other places. Luckily, we have friends to remind us. This year, one such friend took us to Castellón for the Romería a la Magdalena… an eight-kilometer pilgrimage which seemingly the entire city participates in.
The crowds start filing into Castellón’s Plaza Mayor bright and early at 7am on Sunday morning. Roughly half of them have slept. After arriving, we joined a queue which stretched from the Mercad...
March 11, 2015
El Cant de l’Estoreta
Among the first events on the Fallas program is the Cant de l’Estoreta, when the history of the festival is presented to the public. But whom should be entrusted with so solemn a task? Why… little kids, of course!
Fallas is a marathon of fiery destruction, perverted ninots, all-night disco parties, greasy food and noise fireworks. But Fallas didn’t forget to ask Grandma Valenciana what she would like to see. Naturally enough, Grandma chose an adorable parade of costumed toddlers.
On the first S...
March 10, 2015
The Illuminated Streets of Ruzafa
A major part of Fallas is its competitions. Paella championships, sports tournaments, fallera pageants, and of course the selection of the year’s best monuments. But the most dazzling battle takes place on the streets of Ruzafa… or rather, above them. A few casales compete each year to erect the city’s most mind-blowing streetlights.
The monuments of Fallas are incredible, and the cremà is unforgettable, but for me, nothing is so breathtaking as watching the streetlights of Ruzafa being switch...
