Valencia’s Fallas Festival: Welcoming Spring with Fire

For hundreds of years, residents of Valencia, Spain, have celebrated the arrival of spring and paid tribute to San Jose, the patron saint of the carpenters’ guild, by building and then ceremonially burning huge monuments made of wood, cardboard, and paper. The monuments, or fallas, consist of ninots, or figures, many of which are caricatures that portray current events and celebrities. The two-week-long festival features parades, fireworks, and fiestas, and ends with the burning of hundreds of fallas, signifying cleansing and renewal.

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Valencia’s Fallas Festival: Welcoming Spring with Fire

6 0
20.03.2024

Valencia’s Fallas Festival: Welcoming Spring with Fire

  • Alan Taylor
  • 1:45 PM ET
  • 18 Photos
  • In Focus

For hundreds of years, residents of Valencia, Spain, have celebrated the arrival of spring and paid tribute to San Jose, the patron saint of the carpenters’ guild, by building and then ceremonially burning huge monuments made of wood, cardboard, and paper. The monuments, or fallas, consist of ninots, or figures, many of which are caricatures that portray current events and celebrities. The two-week-long festival features parades, fireworks, and fiestas, and ends with the burning of hundreds of fallas, signifying cleansing and renewal.

Read more Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

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  • A view of the burning Falla del Ayuntamiento, a 20-meter-long monument built of wood and cardboard, during the Fallas festival, in Valencia, Spain, on March 19, 2024. The dove figures signify a demand for peace in Gaza and Ukraine. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • Workers prepare ninots, or giant figures, ahead of the traditional Fallas festival, in Valencia, on March 15, 2024. #

    Eva Manez / Reuters

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  • People gather around a falla to watch the traditional "Mascleta" (fireworks show) during the Fallas festival on March 16, 2024. #

    Jose Jordan / AFP / Getty

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  • People take pictures of colorful ninots during the Fallas festival, on March 19, 2024. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • Ninots, as part of a falla, are pictured in Valencia on March 16, 2024.........

    © The Atlantic


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