The Fallas 2023 are approaching and this year they seem to be celebrated at a large scale. Long gone are the memories of the Fallas of previous years, marked by fears and limitations. The Fallas 2023 have come to burn out and disappear in the embers of the flames to give way to new dreams, as they have almost always done in the capital of the Turia.
Coming to Valencia during Fallas is one of those experiences that you have to live at least once in your life. The streets of the city are filled with tradition, art and gunpowder, illuminating every corner of the city with sounds and music.
This Sunday, 26 th of February 2023, the first act of the fallas will take place. The fallera mayor of Valencia will invite falleros and visitors to the festival. It is a multitudinous and very emotional event in which the origins of the fallas are remembered and where thousands of people come to fill the streets near the Torres de Serranos to praise the fallera mayor.
The event of the call of the fallera is called “Crida” which in Valencian means “Call”. Although it is something that not everybody knows, in its beginnings the Crida was called “pregón”. and to call the festival there was a town crier who, together with the music bands, went around the city announcing the festival.
This proclamation that originally took place in the streets of the city, was later moved to Plaza de los Fueros, just behind where La Crida takes place today. Over the years the influx of falleros was so great that in 1989, after a small incident during the celebration, it was decided to move La Crida to the place where it will be held on Sunday 26th, at the front of the Plaza de los Fueros.
This year, the Crida will take place at 7pm, but it is highly recommended to arrive beforehand. If you go to the Plaza de los Fueros on Sunday 26th you can see how from midday there are already people waiting and enjoying the Fallas atmosphere.
The Crida is one of the most important moments for the Valencians and although it is not an international event, it is part of the fallas. Since this is not a very popular events, most of the people who assist the ceremony are falleros and Valencians, so if you want to enjoy a real fallas atmosphere, this is an unmissable event.
The Fallas programme for Sunday 26th begins at 07:15am with what we call in Valencia, “La despertà”. Which is nothing more than the way in which the Valencians wake up the citizens so that they can get up and start to enjoy the fiesta. If you live near the city centre, the “trons de bac” are sure to make you jump out of bed. We’re not going to tell you what they are, so wait until Sunday to get to know them, as they will be with you throughout the Fallas.
After the despertà, at approximately 12:00 noon, the bands will enter the town hall square. This event shows the importance of music and folklore in the Valencian tradition.
And in keeping with tradition, there is nothing more Valencian than a good mascletà at 2pm in the town hall square. An event that will set the rhythm of the city from the 1st to the 19th of March, when Valencia will be ablaze with Fallas.
Finally, to end the day, there is nothing like eating a good paella in the city centre and drinking a glass of Agua de Valencia at Café Madrid. The place where, according to legend, this Valencian cocktail was created.
And now all that remains is to wait in the Plaza de los Fueros for La Crida event to begin at 7pm, which for the last few years has been held with a video mapping of the Serranos Towers and which will end with a fireworks display by the Valencian Pyrotechnics.
