What are “Las Fallas”?

Here at Jacaranda Spain we love to promote the events and fiestas in the Marina Alta and the Valencian community. The city of Valencia celebrates with fire from March 15th-19th, during one of Spain’s most famous festivals, Las Fallas (pronounced Fa-yas). For the celebration of St. Joseph, the city fills up with crowds of revelers drinking and dancing, as massive “ninots” parade down the streets in great processions. These are enormous sculptures made of wood and papier-maché. The craftsmen and women of the city spend all year crafting these figures which stand as tall as the buildings. The display is magnificent!

There are fireworks and bonfires throughout the 4 day long fiesta and the last day is a bank holiday. The final party goes on, after the ceremonial burning, into the early hours of the next morning.

The History of the Fallas.

Valencia has always been a hot bed for art and artisan crafts. Years ago the craftsmen, starting with one carpenter, who wanted to herald the beginning of Spring, would light a small fire outside the workshops. They did this to herald the start of Spring by burning the wooden stakes (parots), that they used to raise the lamps, that lit their workshops in Winter. This very quickly became embedded in the tradition of the city. As we know, fiestas are an essential part of Spanish culture and they don´t do anything in half measures. Those small fires got bigger and they began to humanize them by making effigies. The sense of humour of the native craftsmen, shaped these creations, called "Ninots". Often they are political, always topical. Often they create controversy, but they always bring the community together. “Las Fallas de Valencia” have been declared an "Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.

They build the Ninots all year round, some of these creations have very big budgets, in the millions!

They are exhibited from February and available for all to see. Then, they are all burned to the ground!

The Plantà, the Eve of the fiesta.
The night of the 15th March is full of activity. The Fallas commissions work in shifts because all of the sculptures that are set up in Valencia and surrounding towns must be fully finished by the morning of 16th. That is the day that the judges award the best ones and choose the “ninot induldat” (individual sculpture)- the only figure to be saved from the burning. 

Award-giving, 17th March.

The falleras mayores and their commissions take part in a procession towards the town’s local Plaza del Ayuntamiento on the morning of 17th, to pick up their prizes. Up to 750 sculptures are divided into categories with the “Special Section” being the most impressive of all. 

Fireworks and the Nit del Foc, from 15th to 19th March

The night skies are filled with light and color during Fallas thanks to the impressive firework displays which are set off at midnight. An act that brings together a multitude of people and reaches its peak with the Nit del Foc, a unique firework display celebrated in the early hours of the 18th. 

The Cremà, 19th March

All the Fallas, small and large, must be burned on the 19th. Although it seems terrible to watch all their hard work go up in smoke, seeing how the flames reduce these monuments to ash is an artwork in itself. The last night of the fallas starts with the burning of the childrens sculptures and ends with the prize winning sculpture being burned at 11.30pm.. although this sometimes happens after midnight! This ceremony is called the “Crema”.

The 2026 Fallas celebrations are in progress now in the city with the Crema tomorrow night, 19th March. The city of Valencia is a 1 hour drive away but, if you don´t want to travel so far, the coastal town of Denia also celebrates in the same way on a smaller scale. If you don´t make it this year, it is probably a good time to book up accommodation for next year. Las fallas are awesome and we can think of no better way to experience a true taste of the Valencian culture.