During the last couple days of Fallas, thousands of falleras from all over the province make a pilgrimage to Valencia’s Plaza de la Virgen to deliver flowers to Our Lady of the Forsaken, during one of the festival’s most awe-inspiring events: The Ofrenda (The Offering).
You’ve never seen anything like it; traffic in the inner city is completely brought to a halt. That goes for foot traffic, too. Young falleras, old falleras, baby falleras, musicians, cigarrette smoking falleras pushing strollers, hungover falleros, all on their way to the Virgin with flowers.
Once there, the flowers are used to dress the Virgin in dazzling reds, oranges and yellows. Regardless of one’s religious affiliation, it’s difficult to remain unmoved by the sight of the gigantic statue covered in flowers. The tradition is for the falleras who’ve just completed the journey to break out into tears, and many of them do, though a lot of them just pretend to (especially when the camera’s on them!)
Enjoy these great pictures and videos from The Ofrenda — one of our favorite parts of Fallas.
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