Las Fallas –Festival of Fire

This holiday is celebrated in the east of Spain, in the area and the city of Valencia. It is dedicated to the arrival of spring and continues for five exciting days with the culmination on the 19th of March, which is the day of St. Joseph. Las Fallas tradition dates from the mid-18th century. For a long time, Las Fallas was related to all aspects of events; fire, arson, rag dolls and platforms, but in time differentiated only on the satirical sculptures, whose popularity quickly spread.

On that day, around midnight, begins "Crema" with the burning of many Fallas, beautiful sculptures made of cardboard and Styrofoam in the magnificent Requiem flame and light. Although it is its central part, the festival offers a lot of unusual content, and moreover it is rightly classified as the most bizarre and incredible festival on the planet. However, for the rest of the world this holiday is still a pretty well kept secret.

History

Las Fallas tradition dates from the mid-18th century. During the holiday morning, in the windows of houses stood out rag dolls and the vertical walls of the raised platform had figures that showed the events or individuals that had attracted the attention of the entire community. At midnight, they were burnt at the stake as part of a larger celebration. It was believed that in this way they destroyed the evil spirits that were previously trapped in the dolls.

Prohibitions

The first document that mentions this festival is the letter from Valencia’s mayor that prohibited installation of dolls and platforms in the narrow streets close to facades in order to prevent fire. With these measures, the city police had to force the residents to burn their dolls and platforms only in wide streets and squares, this formula is held up to the present day. In order to comply with it, citizens have the platform raised to the point. Since the platform with the sculptures was no longer on the walls, it could be observed from all sides, which led to changes in its design.

Symbols

The sculptures are now pyramidal, wooden based, decorated with drawings and paintings that are concealed from combustible material. Along with the sculptures on the nearby walls or the pedestal, were hanging records that explained their significance in Valencia’s language. Since the mid-19th century, they are printed and connected into the book called “llibret”.

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