La Ofrenda was just tens times bigger and longer than I was expecting, and kind of a pain in the butt. I think the estimate was 100,000 falleros from ALL over Valencia and surrounding pueblos that trekked to the Plaza de la Virgin to give flowers to the statue. I thought that it would last for a few hours on Thursday and be over, but I was really wrong. It was a two-day affair with 8-10 hours of people walking the whole time. I kept wondering where all these falleros were coming from. I have pictures of all ages dressed in the clothes carrying flowers. I think my favorite ones were the mama falleras pushing their baby falleros in the strollers. But the most annoying part was that they blocked off the pathway that the falleros took to get to the plaza and I literally could not get around anywhere. I walked through the procession a few times, really just because there was no other way. The novelty definitely wore off for me. By Friday night or maybe Saturday morning, though, they had finally finished the statue of the virgin.
Wednesday and Thursday night they had fuegos artificials (fireworks) over the puente de Aragon, so we went to those both nights, and naturally botelloned. These fireworks were definitely the best I'd seen. I don't know how to explain what makes fireworks "better" but these I guess had more variety, had a kind of scheme to them, and lasted a lot longer than the firework shows I've seen in the states. Thursday night was the Nit di Foc (night of fire) where everyone goes crazy. We botelloned with cubalitros, so naturally I exceeded my expectations I had for this night. It took a while for me to recover the next day, which was also father's day here. We went to our Spanish sister's house for lunch and stopped to watch a mezcleta in their neighborhood on the way. I pretty much love how in Spain there were fireworks EVERYWHERE, and there were no rules or regulations. The mezcleta was just a blocked off street that some guy had strung fireworks through. We were standing really close, but fortunately I had an umbrella to shield us from the falling debris.
Friday night was La Crema, where they burned all the fallas starting at midnight, and let me just give you a little run down on what happens. First, the firefighters have to arrive. Then, they pour gasoline all over them. Then, they start a firework show that literally comes out of the middle of the crowd, and you really have to be careful where you stand or burning ash will fall on you. These fireworks are comparable to the ones they set off for Fourth of July in the states, and they signify to people around that they're about to burn the falla. It's kind of like a last call thing for people to come watch. Then, the fallera major will light the fuse that will set off the fireworks that they have wrapped around the falla, and it will eventually catch fire. Everyone stands in awe at the giant monument burning while taking pictures, and the whole time the fallera major cries. I didn't understand why. We went to the Na Jordana falla early to watch that one burn since it was my favorite. Then we saw another one burning 30 minutes later at the Torre Cerano (no, Pree, I don't know how to spell, or find it on my own). We tried to go to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento to watch the government one burn, but it was out of control. People were EVERYWHERE. They did have fireworks the whole time instead of just at the beginning, which made it more exciting. Then we watched the one at the Plaza de Reina and we were really just too close. It made me nervous. And the crowds were so annoying. I don't understand how so many people fit into one city. Afterwards, we were all so ready to go home and sleep finally, so we pushed our way through the crowds and walked back home.
So my overall rating of Fallas: B
I definitely think it's a little bit over-hyped. If I lived in Valencia and was part of a cassal and had parties and events to go to with my cassal every day, or if I were a fallera, I think it would have been a lot more fun. As an outsider, it was just a little but like, what's going on? All we really did was day drink and then go out. I did enjoy it though, and I saw some things I would never see in the US. And Valencia definitely did a good job preparing for it. So I give the city an A+ on the way they handled the crowds and events. But I do understand now why all the real Valencians flee the city during the week.
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