Mark your calendars — on October 9th, the next major festival hits Valencia, the Day of the Valencian Community (Día de la Comunidad Valenciana).

Of course, we’ll be blogging more pictures and information as it happens, but here is a quick rundown of what you can expect:

International Festival of Fireworks
Preceding the official events of the 9th, the city invites pyrotechnic artists from all over the world to put on a massive fireworks display in the riverbed of the Turia on the evening of October 8th.

Rey Jaume I in the Parterre

History
On October 9th, 1238, King James I of Aragon entered Valencia and liberated it from 500 years of Moorish rule. He created an autonomous country, the Kingdom of Valencia, and has become the city’s most cherished historical figure. The Day of the Valencian Community, October 9th, is one of the region’s most important holidays.

La Senyera
The 9th is the day of official festivities, beginning with the lowering of La Senyera from the Ayuntamiento. La Senyera is the official flag of the Valencian Community, and is lowered from its usual place on the city hall to street level, instead of being brought through the doors, because — according to royal proclamation — the flag may bow to no one.

The Procession
After the flag is lowered, the official procession begins, first up to the Cathedral and then down Calle La Paz before eventually arriving at Parterre park. There, an offering of flowers is made to the large statue of King James, and the flag is brought back to the Ayuntamiento, where there is a…

Mascletà
Don’t act as though you’re surprised.

The rest of the day is filled with traditional music and dancing in the Plaza de la Virgen, as well as a procession of Moors & Christians throughout the old city.

St. Dionisios
October 9th also happens to be the day of St. Dionisios, who Valencians revere as the saint of love. So, young Valencians in love traditionally present the object of their affection with a Mocaorà, which is a handkerchief filled with sweets.

There might well be other events worth seeing as part of the celebrations. This is our first time, so if there is something else worth watching out for, any information we’ve gotten incorrect, or an interesting piece of trivia we’ve neglected, please leave a comment!

This Wednesday, the 27th of August, the small town of Buñol will once again play host to one of the world’s most famously bizarre festivals: The Tomatina.

Source: arroncorey@flickr

You’ve probably seen the images — hundreds of people throwing millions of tomatoes at each other, turning the city’s streets into a mushy, red mess. The celebration has been going on for 63 years, and serves as a way to get stress out before the beginning of fall. It’s always on the last Wednesday of August.

Buñol is just 45 minutes by train from Valencia, and Renfe has special service there on Wednesday. Below is a copy of their information flier. There are a lot of trains both there and back but please note — I have no idea how crowded or full the trains will be. Also note that the trains leave from Sant Isidre not the main train station.

There are numerous operators offering bus rides for about €30 — which is far more than what Renfe charges. There’s information on buses here.

For most of humanity, public holidays are a breathlessly awaited godsend. But when you work independently, and are living in a new country, they can be an unexpected nuisance.

Ach, get up there already.

Like today, for instance. I woke up early, intending to get a paper and sit at my favorite café for breakfast. Oh, the plans I had for the day! A haircut, shopping, registering for social security… yes, I’ll need a hearty breakfast for power!

On stepping out, it took me awhile to notice how silent the city was. No cars, no businessmen, even the ever-present hippie drug dealer at the corner was absent. And of course, everything was closed. Assumption Day!

Assumption Day is a national holiday?! My plans were destroyed, my life sent into utter turmoil, all because Mary had to ascend into heaven.

January 1st - New Year’s Day
January 22nd - San Vicente Martir
March 19th - San José - Also: End of Fallas
March 20th - Holy Thursday
March 21st - Good Friday
March 24th - Easter Monday
March 31st - San Vicente Ferrer - Falls on the Monday after Easter
May 1st - Labor Day
August 15th - Assumption Day - Lame!
October 9th - Day of the Valencian Community
November 1st - All Saints Day
December 6th - Day of the Constitution
December 8th - Immaculate Conception
December 25th - Christmas

Just an observation, and probably something most Christians wonder about at some point in their upbringing: if the Immaculate Conception was December 8th, doesn’t that make Jesus the ultimate preemie?

Soccer meets volleyball at the 4th annual footvolley tournament at Las Arenas beach, in Malvarrosa (location).

A 21st century mixture of sports (some may call it a ‘mashup‘; very Sport 2.0), footvolley is extremely fun to watch — it’s almost best viewed as an exhibition of skill. Check out some of the footage from 2006’s world tournament, also held in Valencia.

This is the 4th annual tournament… and Brazil will be looking to pick up their 4th consecutive title. Damned Brazilians! What with their samba, partying and domination in all things soccer, they get on my nerves.

Other teams invited this year come from all over Europe and South America. Our sympathies will be with the Germans. The footvolley championship would be a nice consolation prize after the heartbreak of the Euro 2008.

More Info at Spain’s Footvolley Site (in Spanish)

La Batalla de Flores from Valencia Blog on Vimeo.

Marking the end of Valencia’s Feria de Julio is the famous flower battle (la batalla de flores), established in 1892. Basically, falleras ride on parade floats, equip themselves with tennis rackets, and allow onlookers to pelt them with heavy little flowers. It’s great fun, and if you’d become sick of seeing the Fallera Mayor’s pretty, blond face everywhere… well, this was your chance to smack it with a flower. (Though, it must be said, while most her court was quickly overwhelmed by the onslaught, the Fallera Mayor never lost her composure, swatting away every flower with ice cold precision … perhaps it was this skill that won her the coveted position in the first place)

The battle was proceeded by a small parade on La Alameda, which went up and down the street 4 times before the warfare began. The girls on the floats all looked a little nervous regarding the warfare to come, and the public was impatient.

After the battle had finished, spectators ran into the street to gather up armfuls of flowers to throw at each other. Some of the more eager didn’t notice (or care) that they were picking up horse manure with the flowers.

The night ended with fireworks over the Turia.

Get ready for yet more open-air, original version cinema in Valencia, courtesy of l’IVAC-La Filmoteca and l’Aula de Cinema de la Universtat de Valencia. This time, the films are being shown at the Jardines del Palau de la Música (location)…

And the program is great! It’s like a master class in Cinema Classics… Godard, Lubitsch, Fellini, Wilder, Tarantino, Bergman. Every genre is covered, from animation (Ratatouille) to art house (Seventh Seal). In our day jobs, we run a popular film website and can verify that every movie in this program is worth seeing.

It runs from July 28th to September 7th. The films start at 11pm and entry is €3 (or you can get 10 entrances for €20).

Here’s the full lineup. I’ve listed the English names of the films, but keep in mind that everything is being shown in OV, with Spanish subtitles. Feel free to bookmark this page, for easy reference!

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Jul 28	Jul 29	Jul 30	Jul 31	Aug 1	Aug 2	Aug 3
Amarcord France, 1973		Ninotchka USA, 1939		American Gangster USA, 2007
Aug 4	Aug 5	Aug 6	Aug 7	Aug 8	Aug 9	Aug 10
Breathless France, 1959		Sullivan’s Travels USA, 1941		The 400 Blows France, 1959
Aug 11	Aug 12	Aug 13	Aug 14	Aug 15	Aug 16	Aug 17
The Seventh Seal Sweden, 1956		La Soledad Spain, 2007		Be Kind, Rewind USA, 2008
Aug 18	Aug 19	Aug 20	Aug 21	Aug 22	Aug 23	Aug 24
XXY Argentina, 2007		Planet Terror USA, 2007		Death Proof USA, 2007
Aug 25	Aug 26	Aug 27	Aug 28	Aug 29	Aug 30	Aug 31
Querelle Germany, 1982		Arsenic and Old Lace USA, 1944		Ratatouille USA, 2007
Sep 1	Sep 2	Sep 3	Sep 4	Sep 5	Sep 6	Sep 7
La Notte Italy, 1961		Some Like It Hot USA, 1959		There Will Be Blood USA, 2007