Las Fallas, Feuer & Valencias Spektakulärstes Festival
The Fallas (the 'Falles' in Valencian — the annual UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage festival of fire, art, satire, and pyrotechnics in Valencia, held March 1-19, culminating on the 'night of fire' (March 19) when hundreds of giant papier-mâché satirical monuments ('ninots') are simultaneously burned throughout the city) is the most spectacular fire festival in Europe and the defining expression of Valencian civic identity.
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Las Fallas — The UNESCO Fire Festival of March
Las Fallas (the annual fire festival, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, March 1–19 in Valencia, culminating in La Cremà on March 19) is the most visually spectacular civic festival in Europe — the fallas (the ninots, the satirical papier-mâché sculptures up to 30m tall, built over 12 months by the falleras associations in each neighbourhood and then burned on March 19 at midnight) number 780+ across the city simultaneously; the Fallera Mayor (the elected 'queen' of the festival, announced 9 months before the festival, the role requiring 12 months of full-time public engagements) is the festival's human centrepiece; the March 19 cremà (the burning) is the emotional peak when 12 months of artistic work is incinerated in 30 minutes.
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Mascletà — The Daily Noon Gunpowder Performance
The Mascletà (the daily 2-minute pyrotechnic and percussion performance in Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Valencia, daily at 2:00pm sharp from March 1 to March 19 during Las Fallas, free, crowds of 100,000+) is the defining event of Valencian civic identity — the performance uses only ground-based firecrackers (no aerial rockets, the competition between the licensed pyrotechnic companies of L'Horta region) to create a sonic experience (peak noise 120dB) that is felt as physical vibration rather than merely heard; the Valencians judge the mascletà by its sound quality (the 'tronada', the final thunder-roll at the end, is the moment of maximum assessment); the best companies are booked 2 years in advance.
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Pyrotechnics Industry — The Gunpowder Villages of Valencia
The pyrotechnics tradition of Valencia (the most important fireworks production region in the world outside China, the municipalities of Massamagrell, Nàquera, and Godella producing 60%+ of Europe's professional fireworks) is a 500-year-old craft industry — the Museu del Tro i del Llamp (Museum of Thunder and Lightning, Nàquera, 30km north of Valencia by car) documents the alchemical development of the Valencian gunpowder formulas; the licensed workshops (the polvorins, explosives workshops operating under strict safety regulation, several offering supervised visits by appointment) produce the coets (rockets), the palmeras (aerial bursts), and the specialized mascletà charges that are the technical foundation of the festival.
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Museo Fallero — The Saved Ninot Collection
Museo Fallero (Plaza Monteolivete 4, Valencia, ¥2 adults, Tuesday–Saturday 9:15am–7pm, Sunday 9:15am–3pm) holds the 780 ninots indultats (the single figurine from each year's fallas competition that has been voted to be saved from the March 19 burning, by public ballot, since 1934) — the collection, growing by one piece per year, documents 90 years of Valencian popular sculpture and political satire; the oldest surviving ninots (the 1930s papier-mâché figures) and the recent photorealistic silicone-and-fibreglass works represent the technical evolution; the 2015 ninot (a satirical sculpture of Spanish politicians, the most controversial recent saved piece) is the most discussed in the collection.
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Semana de la Magdalena — Castellón's Similar Festival
The Semana de la Magdalena (the Fiestas de la Magdalena, Castellón de la Plana, 75km north of Valencia, the last 9 days before Ash Wednesday, the Valencian Community's second largest fire festival after Las Fallas, the Gaiatas — the illuminated neighbourhood tower structures — competing in a festival parallel to Valencia's fallas competition) is less internationally known but more accessible during non-March visits — the Gaiata Desfilada (the parade of illuminated tower structures through the city centre) and the Pregó (the opening proclamation ceremony) are the principal events; Castellón is 40 minutes from Valencia by Cercanías train (¥5.60 one-way).
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El Pilar — October's Fire Festival in Zaragoza
La Ofrenda de Flores (the Flower Offering at the Basilica del Pilar, Zaragoza, October 12, the main day of the Fiestas del Pilar, Aragon's equivalent to Las Fallas) involves 50,000+ participants carrying flowers in traditional regional costumes to the Plaza del Pilar to build a floral mantle on the statue of the Virgin — the festival includes the Pyrotechnic International Contest (5 consecutive evenings, the most important professional fireworks competition in Spain), the Ronda de Gigantes (the procession of 4.5m papier-mâché giant figures), and the Concert of Jotas (the Aragonese traditional vocal competition); Zaragoza is 3.5 hours from Valencia by AVE high-speed train (¥35–65 one way).