Las Fallas 2017
Fallas Especiales at Night
My goal each year is to see as many of the fallas especiales at night as I can. Pretty easy to do if you plan it out, except there's one all the way out near Playa Malvarrosa which is a pain (I've never made it out to that one). There are a couple in this gallery that I only made it to at night, so they don't appear in the daytime photos.
Fallas Especiales
Only ten or so fallas each year are put in the special category - they are the biggest and most impressive of the lot (usually).
Ninot Exhibition
If you get in to Valencia a day early, you can visit the Ninot Exhibition. Each falla picks one sculpture to display to the public in the weeks prior to the festival. It shuts down at 5pm on March 15th, the day before Las Fallas begins. One sculpture is picked each year to do on permanent display instead of being burned to the ground.
La Crema
They spend all year planning, designing, and building these amazing sculptures that are several stories tall. And then after four days in view of the public, they burn them all down at midnight.
Fallas at Night
Nighttime is the best time to see the fallas. No harsh shadows to deal with, colors seem more vibrant, and it's more of a party atmosphere as you wander around the city.
Fallas
Not as big as the select few fallas especiales, but just as interesting.
The Festival
All the miscellaneous shots I took while wandering around Valencia, including plenty of shots of falleras parading through the streets.
Fallas Infantiles
These are the smaller fallas geared towards kids. Generally each large falla has a smaller falla infantile to go along with it, and they're burned down a few hours before the main event. This year there were three that were all pretty awesome (Star Wars, Mario, and Disney), so I opted to see the Star Wars falla burn down on the final night.
Pre-Festival Prep
Las Fallas begins on March 16th at 9am, that's the deadline for all the fallas to be 100% completed and open to the public. Get in town a day early, and you can wander around seeing the fallas being assembled and painters applying the finishing touches.
Not Safe For Work
Not quite as raunchy as 2016, but it's still clear that Spain doesn't shy away from nudity in public spaces.
Cabalgado de Fuego
A pretty quick parade down Carrer de Colon on the final night of Las Fallas, and as the name suggests fire plays a big part. Tough to get decent shots though when you're several people deep in the crowd.