Las Fallas 2019
Fallas Especiales at Night
Nighttime shots of all 9 fallas especiales, plus Plaza del Ayuntamiento. This year's first place winner was L'Antiga de Campanar (see photos 13-18 on the first gallery page). The Broadway show themed falla (Falla Convento Jerusalen - Matematico Marzal) had a Broadway music/light show that went off I think every hour.
Fallas Especiales
Only saw 6 of the 9 fallas especiales during the daytime. I had rented an ultra-wide-angle lens for this trip (Canon 11-24mm f/4L) so I tried it out for some of these shots. Not sure if I'll rent it again next year.
Fallas
A couple Star Wars themed fallas, Crash Test Dummies, and a falla entirely devoted to Tim Burton with Nightmare Before Christmas as the centerpiece. I've tried, but I cannot understand the deeper meaning behind a toddler sitting on a toilet wearing a clonetrooper helmet...
Fallas Seccion 1A
The trend of jumping on the Disney hype bandwagon continues. In 2018 there were a few Mary Poppins themed fallas (prior to Mary Poppins Returns coming out), and this year Aladdin had a seccion 1A falla entirely dedicated to it.
Fallas at Night
Mostly fallas in the La Gran Via and Russafa neighborhoods.
Ninot Exhibition
The image #11 on the first page of this gallery, the family with the donkey, ended up being the 2019 Ninot Indultat and was spared from la crema. My personal favorites were Joker/Harley and not-Han in Carbonite.
La Crema
Had to watch poor Groot get burned alive for the falla infantile crema. That was in the middle of the Extramurs neighborhood, so when that was done I had to hustle back to city center and staked out a spot at the first big falla I came across (Seccion 1A Falla Ribera - Convento Santa Clara) right across from Xativa station, and I was still 10 people deep in the crowd. It ended up not being very interesting, with black smoke obscuring everything after just a few seconds.
Fallas Infantiles
This was my favorite year so far for fallas infantiles. The large Groot head was pretty awesome, and it was the falla infantile I picked to watch for la crema. Also check out the movie-themed falla with a ton of 80s/90s movie references, and a falla with a Labyrinth theme. Never would have expected to see Ludo or the Labyrinth worm at Las Fallas.
The Festival
Churros, buñuelos, and paella - the fuel that gets you through the festival.
Pre-Festival
Pictures of the last minute activity in the La Gran Via neighborhood the afternoon before Las Fallas begins.
Not Safe For Work
If you ever wanted to know what Trump and Hitler look like naked, here's your answer.
Museo Fallero
The Museo Fallero is across the street from the Palace of Arts & Sciences, so it's an easy stop after visiting the Ninot Exhibition. It's pretty small, just two floors, and has the ninot indultats for every year - those are the ninot and ninot infantile that win the popular vote at the Ninot Exhibition every year. The winners get to go on display in the museum instead of burning down on the final night.