Today’s mascletà in honor of the Virgin was a small, proficient display at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. There was no cage, which provided us with a great view of the explosions. Though it wasn’t exactly on the scale of the Fallas mascletàs, there wasn’t much of a crowd, so we got a great view and a really fun video. Enjoy!

If you are normally not a big fan of the 5 minute long Mascletà videos I urge you to watch the short (best part) version of today’s Mascletà:

And here the full length:

- Great Deals on Car Rentals

This weekend, always on the second Sunday in May, Valencia celebrates its patron saint, Our Lady of the Forsaken. The city’s most insane religious procession takes place on Sunday morning, and there are a few other events to keep your eye on.

Concert, Fireworks and Dance at Plaza de la Virgen – Saturday Night
At 11pm, the Municipal Band of Valencia takes the stage at the Plaza de la Virgen for a free, open-air concert, to kick off the weekend’s festivities. It’s very pleasant, in stark contrast to the music which will soon fill the square. After they’ve finished, a short but impressive fireworks display will be shot off over the Turia. It’s visible from the plaza, but if you want an unobstructed view, you should head down to the riverbed.

After the fireworks have ended, folkloric music, castanets, elaborate costumes, and dancing fill the plaza in an interminable dance. Hundreds of falleros prance to the squealing, whistling sounds of flutes and other woodwinds. The musicians play the same song over and over, and I promise, you won’t be able to get it out of your head for days. And you will want to, desperately.

Check out our 2009 coverage of the dance & fireworks

Open Air Mass – Sunday Morning
Taking place at the ungodly hour of 5am, la misa descubierta is only for early risers, and guilt-ridden late-night party people. It takes place at the Royal Chapel, and since we’ve never gone and never will, I won’t comment further.

The Traslado – Sunday, 10:30am
This is the highlight of the festival, and one of the absolute must-see events on the calendar. Even the non-religious can’t help but be moved by the spectacle of the Virgen de los Desamaparados being carried from her Basilica to the Cathedral. It’s a very long 200 meters, from door to door, with the path being obstructed by thousands of rabid Catholics clamoring to touch the virgin, who will stop at nothing. With rose petals raining down from the balconies, true believers crying and shaking, desperate parents literally throwing their babies at the statues, the men buckling under the virgin’s weight as come perilously close to dropping her over and over… it’s a sight you can’t miss. Incredible. If you’re not sure, just check out our 2008 & 2009 coverage.

Mascletà – Sunday, 14:00
The cage is gone and this mascletà should be a great one.

Official Procession – Sunday, 18:30
It has the Virgin, but none of the craziness. This is a long, solemn and much calmer parade. The end is nice, when the bishop and important politicians walk by, with Our Lady hot on their heels, but until then, it’s just so many ladies dressed in black, and dudes in suits. The route goes like this:

Ronda a la Verge – Monday, 20:30
On Monday evening, there’s more traditional music on the menu in the Pl. Virgen. Grab a seat at one of the cafés, and allow yourself to unwind from a crazy weekend.

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Virgin Desamparados T-Shirt by valenciashirt
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What is Fallas?

This will be our final post about Fallas 2010 and then we’ll shut up about it… for 3 months or so! Below, you’ll find links to all the posts of this year’s Fallas festivities and some pictures which we hadn’t published yet.

• Ninot Exhibit 2010
• Fallas Pelota Tournament
• Color Mascletà (Cabalgata Infantil)
• La Despertà 2010
• Mascletà on the day of the Despertà
• Fallas 2010: La Crida

Mascletàs of 2010:

• First Mascletà – March 1st
• Mascletà March 2nd
• Mascletà March 3th (got canceled)
• Mascletà March 4th
• Mascletà March 5th
• Mascletà March 6th
• Mascletà March 7th
• Mascletà Napolitana********
• Mascletà March 8th
• Mascletà March 9th
• Mascletà March 10th
• Mascletà March 11th
• Mascletà March 12th
• Mascletà March 13th
• Mascletà March 14th
• Mascletà March 15th
• Mascletà March 16th
• Mascletà March 17th
• Mascletà March 18th
• Ultima Mascletà March 19th
• Miniature Street Mascletàs

And….

• Cant de L’Estoreta 2010
• The Lights of Ruzafa 2010 (Sueca)
• Fallas 2010: Applying the Final Touches
• Street Light Battle Heats Up! (Literato Azorín)
• La Planta and Buñuelos
• David Villa as Super Fallero
• Castillo March 15th
• Castillo March 17th
• Fallas 2010: Bullfight on March 19th
• La Ofrenda
• The Nit de Foc
• Cabalgata del Fuego
• La Cremà

Special Selection Fallas:

• Fallas 2010: The Winner
• Nou Campanar – 2nd Place
• Almirante Cadarso – 3rd Place
• Sueca – 4th Place
• Malvarrosa – 6th Place (we didn’t make it out there)
• Plaza de Pilar – 6th Place
• Na Jordana – 7th Place
• Duque de Calabria – 8th Place
• Exposición – 9th Place
• Cuba-Literato Azorín – 10th Place
• Pl. Merced – 11th Place
• L’Antiga de Campanar – 12th Place
• Archiduque – Sin Premio

The remaining random Fallas pictures in no specific order:

For hostel/hotel bookings during Fallas, we’ve found the best rates at Hostelbookers, Booking.com and Apartments in Valencia

Right after the last official mascletà of Fallas, a lot of commissions shoot off their own street mascletàs. While we sat down to lunch, the rhythmic, explosive sounds in the background accompanied our meal, like strange & special dinner music!

The great people from Freaky Pyromaniacs went around town and filmed a couple miniature mascletàs:

Do you want to attend a street mascletà? Well, make sure to read these tips first!

Here are some more street Mascletà aftermath pictures:

- Youth Hostel Ruzafa

Filmed with the Sanyo VPC – CS 1 (super tiny) available here: USA, UK, Deutschland and Spain

The last of Fallas’s mascletàs is always something special — it’s only too bad that the weather didn’t play along nicely for the crowd, or for Pirotecnia Caballer.

Before I get to praising the mascletà, lemme just complain about one thing: Spanish people and their umbrellas! They simply don’t care about whose views they’re obstructing, or whose faces they’re poking. This lady in front of us nearly put my dad’s eyes out 50 times. When we asked her to be a little more careful, she responded with a dismissive shrug, and continued to wave her umbrella around haphazardly. And did she put it down when the fireworks began? Ha!! She raised the fucking thing higher! Ours was hardly a unique situation. The same thing was happening all over the plaza, confirming my theory: elderly Spanish people could really care less about anyone else.

But the mascletà? It was AWESOME! The shock waves were so tremendous that you could see the umbrellas vibrating. We loved it from beginning to end, and it was almost enough to erase our annoyance at the Umbrella People. Almost.

For hostel/hotel bookings during Fallas, we’ve found the best rates at Hostelbookers, Booking.com and Apartments in Valencia

Filmed with the Sanyo VPC – CS 1 (super tiny) available here: USA, UK, Deutschland and Spain

Today’s mascletà, by Ricardo Caballer, was my parents first and it was a great one! The weather wasn’t beautiful, but the fireworks made up for it… the finale set the ground to rumbling, and must have registered on the Richter scale! They were impressed, but did my folks love their first mascletà? I think so, but I wouldn’t put a lot of money on that.

For hostel/hotel bookings during Fallas, we’ve found the best rates at Hostelbookers, Booking.com and Apartments in Valencia

Filmed with the Sanyo VPC – CS 1 (super tiny) available here: USA, UK, Deutschland and Spain

There was a huge crowd gathered for Pirotecnia Valenciana’s mascletà on the 17th… the sun was shining, and it was finally warm enough to get away with just a T-shirt. The fireworks were classic — nothing too surprising, but a good, solid show all the way through.

For hostel/hotel bookings during Fallas, we’ve found the best rates at Hostelbookers, Booking.com and Apartments in Valencia

Filmed with the Sanyo VPC – CS 1 (super tiny) available here: USA, UK, Deutschland and Spain

After today’s mascletà, put on Pirotecna Turis, a friend looked over at me and said, "I’ve seen a lot of mascletàs in my life, and that was the best". "WHAT?!" I screamed my response at her, blood streaming out of my ears and tears running down my ruined face. "I CAN’T HEAR YOU, OH GOD, I CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING".

For hostel/hotel bookings during Fallas, we’ve found the best rates at Hostelbookers, Booking.com and Apartments in Valencia

Filmed with the Sanyo VPC – CS 1 (super tiny) available here: USA, UK, Deutschland and Spain

Wow. Today’s mascletà, I think everyone in attendance will agree, was … insane. A great way to start the first of the Big 5 Days of Fallas. Shot off by the company Europlá, this was one of the most incredible shows we’ve ever seen. Again, we were lucky enough to have a bird’s eye view, but I think as long as you were anywhere within a 394-mile radius, you couldn’t avoid being bowled over. Take a couple aspirin, then check out that finale.

Traditional way of doing La Planta:

For hostel/hotel bookings during Fallas, we’ve found the best rates at Hostelbookers, Booking.com and Apartments in Valencia

Filmed with the Sanyo VPC – CS 1 (super tiny) available here: USA, UK, Deutschland and Spain

Thanks to a very fortunate circumstance, we were able to experience today’s mascletà from the top of the Ayuntamiento. It was a good day to be on top — the streets became very packed, very early. We had an incredible view of the fireworks and the plaza, and hope that you enjoy our pictures of the bird’s eye perspective on this extremely loud mascletà.

After the fireworks, we were able to go onto the balcony and meet the Fallera Mayor, Maria Pilar Giménez, and the Fallera Mayor Infantil, Ariadna Galán. Both of them are even more stunning from up close — we were floored as much by their beauty as by their poise and warmth. At 9 years of age, Ariadna is amazingly confident and well-spoken. (I was still picking my nose and playing Magic at that age). And I got a kiss from Maria Pilar — sigh, I’m still swooning. What a day!! Just when we think Fallas can’t get any more exciting, something new comes along.

For hostel/hotel bookings during Fallas, we’ve found the best rates at Hostelbookers, Booking.com and Apartments in Valencia