It is said that the origin of the famous Fallas of Valencia, could be from an old carpenter’s tradition, which consisted on burning the junk and sawdust that had accumulated in the workshops during the winter, on the eve of the day of their patron saint, Saint Joseph, thereby welcoming spring. Catalogued as a festival of International Tourist Interest, UNESCO also added it, in 2016, to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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It is said that the origin of the famous Fallas of Valencia, could be from an old carpenter’s tradition, which consisted on burning the junk and sawdust that had accumulated in the workshops during the winter, on the eve of the day of their patron saint, Saint Joseph, thereby welcoming spring. Catalogued as a festival of International Tourist Interest, UNESCO also added it, in 2016, to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
But then again, with these things, it is always difficult to know what is history, what is a legend and what is a mix of both. What we do know is that the word falla was used by the Valencians in the Middle Ages to refer to torches, and has ended up associated with the most famous flames of the Spanish geography.
Every March, between the Plantà, that is to say, placing the figures in the streets, and the Cremà, burning them, Valencia continues a centuries-old tradition that, nevertheless, has changed a lot over time. The scenes depicted became more complex and monumental, and to make the ninots, they went through cardboard, wood, wax and polyester, up to the white cork of the last few decades. Building these ninots is no longer the responsibility of the most skilful neighbours. Or maybe they do; what happens is that, at some point, these neighbours became professional falleros artists, dedicating a whole year to the elaboration of these figures.
And what are these artists looking for? Well, among other things, the pardon for their work. A custom consolidated in the thirties of the last century to save from the fire only one of the marvels that were, by then, the fallera figures.
But of course, all the pardoned ninots over the years needed a museum to house them. And that is the Fallas Museum, installed in a former convent and custodian of the works that, since 1934, have been freed from the heat of the Cremà. You will see that the type of scenes gathered here are the most diverse from traditional trades to political satire and from the grotesque to the mellow, without forgetting the children’s ninots with their Disney characters or their classic stories.
It is a place you should visit one way or another because it is really worth seeing the detail, care and affection that many people have put making this figures which all they are short of is waving at us.
