The Las Fallas 2024 festival begins in Valencia
Residents and guests of Valencia eagerly await the beginning of the grandest and brightest fiesta of the year – the famous Fallas Fire Festival. The official opening of the festival will take place on February 25. At 6:30 a.m., the members of the fallas committees, who will take part in the celebrations, will gather in the Church of San Juan del Hospital to pay tribute to Saint Barbara, the patroness of firefighters, artillerymen, and all who work with fire. Fallera Mayor, the chosen queen of the festival, and Fallera Mayor Infantil, the children’s queen of Las Fallas, will take part in the solemn prayer.
After finishing the prayer, Fallera Mayor and Fallera Mayor Infantil together with their motorcades will lead the first Fallas parades. At 7:15 a.m. Despertà Infantil or Microdespertà — a fun children’s procession — will take place. At 7:30 a.m. Macrodespertà will begin – a big parade that will announce to the whole city that the long-awaited Las Fallas has finally begun. Hundreds of falleras and falleros (members of the committees that organize the holiday) will pass through the entire city, including Calle de la Paz, to the explosion of firecrackers and the music of orchestras. The parade will end at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento with a grand pyrotechnic show, after which all participants will be offered breakfast.
This is not the end of the festivities. From noon musical groups will perform on the square. At 2:00 p.m., Mascletà will begin — fireworks, during which a huge number of very powerful firecrackers (masclets) are used. The show begins with single explosions, the frequency and volume of which gradually increase until the action turns into a deafening cannonade.
Mascleta is one of the key events of Las Fallas. During the festival, firecrackers will be set off daily, not only in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento but also in many areas of Valencia. The mascletás schedule can be viewed here.
The culmination of the first festive day will be La Crida, the proclamation of the opening of the festival. The ceremony will begin at 7:00 p.m. near the Torres de Serranos, the famous gates of the medieval wall of Valencia. Fallera Mayor and Fallera Mayor Infantil will invite everyone present to take part in the festivities, after which the first Fallas fireworks will begin.
For almost three weeks, from March 1 to March 19, an endless series of fun events awaits Valencia — competitions, concerts, parades, exhibitions, and, of course, fireworks. The main symbols of the holiday are huge colorful figures (fallas or ninot), which are installed in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and all areas of the city. Until March 15, citizens will vote for their favorite doll, which will receive the title of Ninot Indultat and avoid burning on the day of the festival’s culmination — March 19. The official program of Las Fallas-2024 can be found at the link.
