Monday, March 11, 2013

Fallas 2k13 pre-game has begun

It's a little hard to explain Fallas, because we don't have an equivalent in the U.S. but it's like Mardi Gras on steroids + Georgia/Florida + 4th of July. Las Falles, which is Catalán or Valenciano, ("Las Fallas" en Español) is a huge festival that goes on for weeks in commemoration of San José. Fallas are these huge statue-type things that take a full year to construct. They are set up all over the city and some reach 90ft in height! They all have some type of underlying political, historical, and/or comedic message. Each neighborhood in Valencia has their own group of people that build the falla and there are more than 500 set up around the city starting March 15th. March 15th-19th are non-stop party days. The streets are full of people all day and night, and there is no school or work. It's super loud with wake-up calls every morning at 8 am- which consist of bands, horns, shouting, etc. We have been warned that you will not sleep for four nights.

 These are just some examples of fallas from Sr. Google, the ones from this year will come later this week.




There are cultural events leading up to Fallas starting in January, but the main intro starts with La Crida. It's held at the Torres de Serranos, a major landmark in Valencia. Here the mayor, welcomes all of Valencia to the festivities and says a lot of other historical things in Valenciano that I couldn't understand. At the end there are fireworks. Great fireworks show!!





Each region has a young teenage girl and an older woman, called Falleras, to represent their region. It's a huge deal! They are chosen by the community from a competition, that I would say is similar to a pageant in the US. These competitions are extremely expensive, and the girls must wear the traditional fallera dress which cost thousands of euros plus jewelry! Then there's the main competition for THE Fallera Mayor and Fallera Mayor Infantil, these two are like the Queens of Fallas (1 for the adults and 1 for children) and the rest of the girls then become a part of their court, like Homecoming court. The Mayores are the faces of this year's festival and participate in many historical rituals. Ignore my creepiness again while snapping a picture of one of the Falleras. She is one of 12 girls on the Fallera Mayor Infantil's court. More pics to come of the Falleras!

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