The Fallas Draw To An End

Today is the final day of the Fallas celebrations, (or Falles in valenciano as in this poster above) and is also Saint Joseph's Day, the patron saint of these fiestas.

Judging by this picture, the whole Internet is celebrating with us too! Love it!

This church, Nuestra Senora del Mar - or Our Lady of the Sea - is just across the road from my apartment block, and today the falleras from the Rincon de Loix area held a ceremony here, in honour of Saint Joseph.

In this close up you can see the beautiful glass and ironwork detail; the church has many glorious stained glass panels inside too.

I was lucky enough - thanks to my husband, who rang me just in time! - to catch the procession of the falleros and falleras coming up the street,

with young and old stepping in time to their own oompah-ing brass band behind them.

Their dresses were stunning, and so colourful and varied - note this lovely girl on the left who smiled my way for a photo!

and some were wearing elaborate lace headdresses, and carrying bouquets of flowers.

Once the service was over, they continued their procession along my road and down the hill, to join the party at the Fallas statue itself.

At 2pm today, there will be a huge mascleta in every district of the town, which is a huge display of pyrotechnics and firecrackers,

Here you can see how they are tied onto great lengths of rope in a central square,

or just along any street they can find!

Then, when the Fallera Major (head fallera) announces it is time, the huge display is set off! This aerial view is of Valencia city, birthplace of the Fallas, where thousands of people turn up every year to celebrate, and the fallas themselves are the most elaborate, detailed and enormous!

This is a perfect example of how fantastic some of them can be... how tall is that statue! Amazing...

There will be a final procession this evening at about 6pm, complete with floats, and then after midnight the statues will be burnt one by one,

in a magnificent burst of flame and heat called the crema,

and then Las Fallas will be over for another year....

"Adios, y hasta el ano que viene!"

Thanks for dropping by, hope you enjoyed my blog, and please come back again x