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Valencia’s Fallas Festival: Welcoming Spring with Fire


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For hundreds of years, residents of Valencia, Spain, have celebrated the arrival of spring and paid tribute to San Jose, the patron saint of the carpenters’ guild, by building, then ceremonially burning huge monuments made of wood, cardboard, and paper. The monuments, or “Fallas,” consist of “ninots,” or figures, that are often caricatures made to portray current events and celebrities. The two-week-long festival features parades, fireworks, and fiestas, and ends with the burning of hundreds of Fallas, signifying cleansing and renewal.

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  • Two large sculptures of doves are consumed by flames.

    A view of the burning Falla del Ayuntamiento, a 20-meter-long monument built of wood and cardboard, during the Fallas Festival in Valencia, Spain, on March 19, 2024. The dove figures signify a demand for peace in Gaza and Ukraine. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • Two people work on a pair of large human sculptures.

    Workers prepare ninots, or giant figures, ahead of the traditional Fallas festival in Valencia, on March 15, 2024. #

    Eva Manez / Reuters

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  • A crowd gathers in a city square to look at a large sculpture of two doves.

    People gather around a falla to watch the traditional "Mascleta" (fireworks show) during the Fallas festival on March 16, 2024. #

    Jose Jordan / AFP / Getty

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  • A person takes a photo of a life-sized tiger figurine.

    People take pictures of colorful ninots during the Fallas Festival on March 19, 2024. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • A group of skeleton figurines dressed in military uniforms from many countries and ages

    Ninots, as part of a falla, are pictured in Valencia on March 16, 2024. #

    Jose Jordan / AFP / Getty

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  • A close view of a large pair of dove figures

    A detail of the Falla del Ayuntamiento, seen on March 17, 2024. #

    David Aliaga / NurPhoto / Getty

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  • A large installation made up of multiple human and mythical figures in a city square

    Many ninots appear in a falla in Valencia on March 19, 2024. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • A figurine looking vaguely like a seated Albert Einstein

    A ninot is displayed in the streets before being burned during the traditional annual Fallas festival, on March 15, 2024. #

    Eva Manez / Reuters

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  • Several large figures looking like humans, caricatures, and mythical beings.

    Detail of a falla, seen in Valencia on March 19, 2024. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • A person wearing a horned mask carries a staff in a dark street with many fiery sparks in the air beyond them.

    A person in costume during the Cavalcada del Foc (Cavalcade of Fire) of the Fallas 2024, on March 19, 2024. The Cavalcada del Foc is a parade with a spectacle of light, fire, and gunpowder that runs through the streets of downtown Valencia, full of symbols of Valencian heritage such as fire beasts and other fantastic creatures. #

    Jorge Gil / Europa Press / Getty

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  • Fireworks explode above a city square with two large dove statues in the foreground.

    A view of Falla del Ayuntamiento, with fireworks erupting overhead on March 19, 2024. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • Fireworks explode beside the head of a large human figurine.

    A ninot burns during the last day of the Fallas Festival on March 19, 2024. #

    Jose Miguel Fernandez / NurPhoto / Getty

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  • Large caricature figurines burn in a city square.

    Ninots burn on the last night of the Fallas Festival in Valencia. #

    Jose Jordan / AFP / Getty

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  • Ten children, dressed in traditional clothing, pose for a photo.

    Children, dressed in traditional clothing, attend the Fallas Festival on March 19, 2024. #

    Burak Akbulut / Anadolu / Getty

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  • Fire consumes a large sculpture built out of wood and cardboard.

    A picture taken on March 19, 2024, shows ninots burning on the last night of the Fallas Festival. #

    Jose Jordan / AFP / Getty

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  • Fire consumes a human figurine.

    Fire consumes a ninots during the Fallas Festival in Valencia. #

    Jose Jordan / AFP / Getty

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  • Two firefighters hold a hose, spraying water near a large burning sculpture.

    Firefighters work during the "crema" of the Falla del Ayuntamiento, on March 19, 2024 in Valencia. #

    Rober Solsona / Europa Press / Getty

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  • Three girls wearing traditional clothing embrace beside a pile of ash and glowing embers.

    Girls embrace each other beside the glowing ashes of burned giant sculptures on the last day of the Fallas Festival in Valencia, Spain, on March 19, 2024. #

    Eva Manez / Reuters

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