carnival fallas 2016

Crema at City Hall (Ayuntamiento) 2016

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Crema at City Hall (Ayuntamiento) 2016 

The Crema is the burning of the Fallas’ each year starting at 11 p.m. approximately and going to well after 1 a.m.  Each of the hundreds of installations throughout the city is burned.  There are fireworks galore.  The city is alight and thundering.  The video is one I took at the Ayuntamiento Plaza, the last one to be burned, and generally the largest and most spectacular.  There are tens of thousands of people in the plaza as you will see.

For background information see http://www.garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-fallas/

Visit to the fallas workshops (with photos)

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March 3, 2016 we visited the workshop area where the sculpture for Fallas are produced.   These are made from foam over a wood frame.  Each neighborhood Fallas contracts with a workshop to produce these creative and delightful sculptures each year.  Except for a very few ‘small’ ones (small is human sized) all are burned around midnight on March 19 each year.  The largest are around 25 meters/80′ in height.  This industry employs hundreds of artists, carpenters and other skilled labor and brings in 800,000 people to Valencia each year.  The streets are lively, filled with lights and stands selling churros and other fried goodies, mojitos (a mixed alcoholic drink) and of course beer and wine.  The neighborhood fallas organizations have tents, lots of parties, and make paella on wood fires on the street.  Some of them sell portions as fund raisers.

Fallas is the annual carnival in Valencia, Spain.  For background information see http://www.garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-fallas/ ‎

 

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Fallas 2016!- first photos

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These are the first photos from Fallas 2016.  Fallas is the annual carnival in Valencia, Spain.  It is truly one of the wonders of the world.  They erect hundreds of sculptures made of foam and wood (these days), some of which are 25 meters (75′) in height.  There are daily booming fireworks more for feel than light, daily at 2 pm.  At night there are more traditional fireworks in the parks.  Valencia doubles in population for the event, which starts March 1 and ends March 19 every year.

In Rusafa, a section of Valencia, there are not only fallas’ (the statues) but also sound and light shows.  Here they are installing the lighting.

 

Much more to come!

 

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For background information see http://www.garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-fallas/ ‎

 

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