Fallas

What a falla is

Every neighbourhood in Valencia has a commission, a group that meets at its casal faller and works through the year to raise money for the festival. Each commission builds a falla, a construction of figures mounted together in the street. The individual figures are called ninots, a Valencian word for puppets or dolls. Themes are agreed in advance and are usually satirical, poking fun at whatever has caught the public eye. Since 1934 each falla has sent one figure to a public exhibition, the Exposició del Ninot, where a popular vote decides which ninot will be spared from the fire and kept in the Museo Fallero.

Origins and history

The Valencian word falla comes from Latin, through facula, a small torch: the burning is at the heart of the name. The festival has grown over the past century and more. A literary contest for satirical verses in Valencian has run since 1903, organised by the Lo Rat Penat association, and the figures are still collected in booklets called llibrets. Spain listed the Fallas as a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest in 1980, and UNESCO added the festival to its intangible cultural heritage list on 30 November 2016.

How the days unfold

The season opens on the last Sunday of February with La Crida at the Torres de Serranos, where the mayor hands the keys of the city to the Fallera Major. Each day begins at eight in the morning with La Despertà, bands marching and fallers throwing firecrackers. At two in the afternoon the Mascletà fills the Plaça de l'Ajuntament with coordinated explosions. On 15 March the figures must be finished and standing, the Plantà. On 17 and 18 March the commissions carry flowers to a statue of Our Lady of the Forsaken. On the night of 19 March, La Cremà burns them all.

Fire and faith

The Fallas is the city's patronal festival, held around the feast of Saint Joseph on 19 March, and the Catholic side of it is public and serious. Two days are given to the flower offering, when the casals process through the old city to the Plaza of the Mother of God and heap flowers on a statue of the Virgin Mary, honoured there as Our Lady of the Forsaken, the city's principal patroness. Children's and adult Fallera Majors lead the two days in turn. The last nights bring fireworks in the old riverbed; the final one is La Nit del Foc, the night of fire.

Food, music and dress

Commissions hold dinners and parties through the year to fund their work, and paella, the region's own rice dish, is usually on the table. During the festival the streets are full of stalls selling churros, bunyols and fried porres, along with roasted chestnuts. Nearly every casal has its own band, and the sound of the dolçaina, a reed instrument rather like an oboe, and the tabalet, a Valencian drum, follows the processions. Many participants wear the regional and historical costume of the casal faller.

How Fallas is kept

Commissions build their figures through the year, then bring them out and mount them in the streets in mid-March. Each day starts with marching bands and firecrackers and reaches its peak with the afternoon Mascletà. On 17 and 18 March the casals carry flowers in procession to the statue of Our Lady of the Forsaken. On the night of 19 March the figures are burned: the children's ones first, the neighbourhood ones around ten, and the last falla outside the city hall brought down after the Fallera Major gives the signal.

When and where

The five main days are 15 to 19 March, ending on Saint Joseph's Day. The Mascletà sounds every day from 1 March, and the season opens on the last Sunday of February with La Crida. The dates are fixed and fall on the same days each year.

The Fallas belongs to Valencia, in eastern Spain, and is the city's patronal festival. Its centre is the Plaza of the City Hall, where the municipal Mascletà and the final burning take place. The season extends across the Valencian Community, and other towns there hold comparable celebrations of their own.

What Fallas means

For the people of Valencia the falla is a torch, and fire is at the centre of the festival. The figures are admired, judged and then destroyed on the last night, so the making and the burning belong together. Because each neighbourhood prepares for a whole year as a group, the festival is also about belonging to a street and a city. The flower offering to Our Lady of the Forsaken places the whole celebration under the city's patroness, and the last bonfire closes it.

Questions people ask about Fallas

See also

HalloweenAn annual observance on 31 October marking the eve of All Saints' Day, rooted in Christian tradition and Celtic heritageBasque festivalGatherings of dance, sport and food that keep Basque culture alive far from homeRunning of the bullsRunners sprint ahead of loose bulls through barricaded town streets in summerFestival of San FermínAn annual nine-day festival in Pamplona featuring bull runs, parades, and street music.

Good reading and sources

• Valencia Fallas festivityUNESCO, Heritage listing
• Valencia Fallas festivityUNESCO, Article

• Fallas on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.