The Fallas, declared Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2016, are the main feast in the Cap i Casal, but also in most municipalities in the province of Valencia.

For some days the streets of Valencia, Alzira, Xàtiva, Torrent, Cullera, Gandia,… and up to half a thousand more municipalities will be filled with traditional music festivals, to the sound of the dolçaina and tabalet, with the smell of gunpowder and ephemeral art in the form of Fallas monuments to welcome the spring.

Although throughout the month of March, there will be events for fallas (Mascletaes, Exhibitions of Ninots, …); it is from 15th to 19th March when the major milestones that define the party will take place: from the plantà to  the cremà, passing by the Nit del Foc, the offering to the Virgin, the Cabalgata del Fuego (Parade of the Fire) or the usual despertàs. All of them are typical moments in the Festival.

The spark that started it all.

The origin of the Fallas dates back to the ancient tradition of the carpenters of the city, in honor of its patron saint, San Joseph. They - on the eve of the celebration of the feast day on March 19th – used to burn in front of their workshops, the old junk along with the wooden contraptions used to raise their working candles, known as Parots, a sort of candles they use to lit up while working during the winter months.

Other historians find a more ancient origin to the party, arguing that the cult for fire is a ritual of pagan tradition. According to them, the Fallas are an evolution of the ancestral ritual that announces the arrival of the spring.

Fallas, beyond Valencia

Some municipalities in Castellón and Alicante will also join to the celebration of the Fallas; among them, we have to highlight byr their activity and devotion to the party commissions of Benicarló, Almenara, Burriana, La Vall d’Uixó, Segorbe and Soneja in Castellón; Dénia, Calpe, Elda, Pego and Benidorm, in Alicante.