My Favourite Fallas of 2015 (Part 2 - The Children's Fallas)

The Children's Fallas (Falla Infantil)

Each Fallas has an accompanying children's fallas. I really think that these were as impressive as the larger ones because of the sheer number of figurines and level of detail. The other interesting thing about these is that they highlight just how family friendly this festival is. Families with children of all ages were involved. They were in the parades and were out and about with the adults late into the night.

Kids took special pleasure in buying and setting off firecrackers - some of the more evil cheeky ones throwing them just near enough to scare the living daylights out of passers-by without actually hurting them.

This one time, when a particularly loud one was set off, I heard a high-pitched scream behind me. I turned around only to see a grown man gradually turn all kinds of pink with embarrassment. Even stuffing both hands in my mouth was hopeless in suppressing my laughter. Poor guy!

My favourite - The Onomatopoeia Fallas

This is one that I didn't need to understand Spanish to appreciate. Plus I had a few giggles at some of the sounds they had.

Apparently girls go 'Fiu' and guys go 'Proooufh'

Some of the other Children's Fallas
Don't forget you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them!

I later saw them burn this one...

I really liked this one too for some reason

A children's book writer/illustrator perhaps?

In case you missed it, check out the Special Fallas. And don't forget to come back soon for the remaining Large Fallas and Crema-the burning of the Fallas!

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My Favourite Fallas of 2015 (Part 1 - The Special Fallas)

I spent about a week in Valencia. I wanted to be there early enough to get around to see all the Falles and have some time after the festival ended to see what Valencia was like without the festive atmosphere. I'll get into what Valencia was like in a later post, for now, I want to share some of the amazing Fallas that I had the pleasure of gawking at, mouth open, camera in hand.

History
The story goes that the tradition began with carpenters clearing out their scraps of wood at the end of winter on on the eve of the spring equinox and burning them in front of their workshops. This yearly 'spring clean' was moved to coincide with (or actually did coincide with) St Joseph’s day. The pieces of wood morphed into the sculptures seen today. The Falla have a long history of satire although some are just based on a particular theme.

The Special Fallas (Secció Especial)

These are 10 Fallas that are commissioned and are among the largest and most elaborate of the Fallas. And they are LARGE! Towering 4-5 stories high, coming across one of these squeezed into a small square or intersection was mind boggling. Armed with a paper map marking all the special fallas, I wandered around Valencia, spotting a coloured moustache here, towering orange hair there and a large lions head being danced on by a man singing in the rain.

My favourite Special Fallas

Taking pride of place outside the large market hall, this was one of the first few Fallas I saw and easily was one of the more brilliantly colourful ones.

Other Fallas in the category including the winner for 2015

Unfortunately I somehow missed two of the special fallas in my wanderings, oh well, might need to brush up on my map reading skills for next time.

The winner for 2015

See the Queen being pulled in two directions?

Next up will be the Childrens Fallas, other (Large) Fallas, and lets not forget the crema, which is the burning of the Fallas, so be sure to check back soon!

What do you think of the winning Fallas? Would you have voted for it?

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