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{{Short description|Traditional celebration in Valencia, Spain}}
{{Infobox recurring event
|name              = Valencia Fallas
|native_name       = Fallas de Valencia<br>Falles de València
|native_name_lang  = 
|image             = Natura Mare (2).jpg
|image_size        = 
|caption           = Falla Na Jordana 2003 (1st prize)
|date              = 15 to 19 March
|location          = [[Valencia]], [[Spain]]
|frequency         = Annual
| footnotes    = {{Infobox 
  | child = yes
  | header1 = [[Fiestas of International Tourist Interest of Spain|Fiesta of International Tourist Interest]]
  | headerstyle = background-color:#eee;
  | label2= Designated
  | data2 = 1980
  }}
}}
{{Infobox intangible heritage
| ICH         = Valencia Fallas festival
| State Party = Spain
| ID          = 00859
| Region      = ENA
| Year        = 2016
| Session     = 11th
| List        = Representative
}}

The '''Fallas''' ({{langx|ca-valencia|Falles}}; {{langx|es|Fallas}}) is a traditional celebration held annually in commemoration of [[Saint Joseph]] in the city of [[Valencia]], Spain. The five main days celebrated are from 15 to 19 March,<ref name="López2015">{{cite book|author=Enrique Ávila López|title=Modern Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjkVCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|date=7 December 2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-601-2|page=341}}</ref><ref name="Visit Valencia">[https://www.visitvalencia.com/en/events-valencia/festivities/the-fallas ''Fallas of Valencia''] Fundació Visit Valencia</ref> while the Mascletà, a [[pyrotechnic]] spectacle of firecracker detonation, takes place every day from 1 to 19 March.<ref name="Visit Valencia"/><ref name="DistritoFallas2020">{{cite web |title=La mascletà « Distrito Fallas |url=https://www.distritofallas.com/las-fallas/la-mascleta/ |publisher=Distrito Fallas |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126085329/https://www.distritofallas.com/las-fallas/la-mascleta/ |archive-date=26 November 2020 |language=es |date=9 April 2008}}</ref> The term ''Fallas'' refers to both the celebration and the [[Falla monument]]s (''Falla'', singular; ''Fallas''/{{lang|ca-valencia|Falles}}, plural) burnt during the celebration.<ref name=Martin1973>{{cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=Charles B.|title=The Fallas: A Folk Festival of Valencia|journal=The Journal of Popular Culture|date=March 1973|volume=6|issue=4|page=854|doi=10.1111/j.0022-3840.1973.00854.x}}</ref>  The Fallas (''Falles'' in Valencian) festival was added to [[UNESCO]]'s [[intangible cultural heritage]] of humanity list on 30 November 2016.<ref name="EPA2016">{{cite news|title=Valencia Fallas festivity included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list |url=http://www.epa.eu/arts-culture-and-entertainment-photos/customs-traditions-photos/valencia-fallas-festivity-included-in-unesco-s-intangible-cultural-heritage-list-photos-53141867 |access-date=1 December 2016 |work=EPA European Pressphoto Agency b.v. |agency=European Pressphoto Agency |date=November 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201033534/http://www.epa.eu/arts-culture-and-entertainment-photos/customs-traditions-photos/valencia-fallas-festivity-included-in-unesco-s-intangible-cultural-heritage-list-photos-53141867 |archive-date=December 1, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A number of towns in the [[Valencian Community]] have similar celebrations inspired by the original Fallas de Valencia festival. For example, the [[Bonfires of Saint John#Celebration in Alicante|Bonfires of Saint John]] (''[[Hogueras de San Juan]]'' or ''Fogueres de Sant Joan'') in [[Alicante]] or the [[Magdalena Festival|Fiestas de la Magdalena]] in [[Castellón de la Plana]].

Each neighbourhood of the city has an organised group of people, the Commission, that meets at the ''Casal faller'', and works all year long holding fundraising parties and dinners, usually featuring the noted dish [[paella]],<ref name="AndrewsLeopold2013">{{cite book|author1=Hazel Andrews|author2=Teresa Leopold|title=Events and the Social Sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMBhsx_NadYC&pg=PA11|date=8 February 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-60560-1|page=11}}</ref> a specialty of the region. Each ''commission'' produces a construction known as ''falla'' which is burned the last day of the celebration.  Currently there are approximately 400 registered commissions in Valencia.<ref name="Martí1996">{{cite book|author=Gil-Manuel Hernàndez i Martí|title=Falles i franquisme a València|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JzTgAAAAMAAJ&q=%22comissi%C3%B3%20fallera%22|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Afers|isbn=978-84-86574-36-9|page=92}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://fallas.com/index.php/es/main-jcf-es/main-comisiones-es/827-numero-de-falla|title=Fallas - Comisiones por número de censo|date=16 February 2016|language=es|access-date=13 December 2017|archive-date=11 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411085341/http://fallas.com/index.php/es/main-jcf-es/main-comisiones-es/827-numero-de-falla|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The name of the festival is the plural of the [[Valencian language|Valencian]] word ''falla''.  The word's derivation is as follows:
:[[Latin]] ''[[wiktionary:fax#Latin|fax]]'' (accusative ''facem''), "torch" → [[Latin]] ''[[wiktionary:facula#Latin|facula]]'' (diminutive; accusative ''faculam'') → [[Vulgar Latin]] *''faclam'' → [[Valencian language|Valencian]] ''falla''.

==''Falles'' and ''ninots''==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Cuba2012.jpg|Falla Cuba 2012 (2nd prize)
Maeztu Lleons 2015 12.jpg|''Ninots'' representing [[Barack Obama]] and [[Vladimir Putin]] (parodying ''[[The Nutcracker]]'') in 2015
Falla_del_Ayuntamiento_Valencia_2019_(3).jpg|Fallas 2019 from Valencia
</gallery>
Formerly, much time would be spent by the ''casal faller'' preparing the ''ninots'' ([[Valencian language|Valencian]] name for puppets or dolls).<ref name="ArweckKeenan2006">{{cite book|author=Xavier Costa|editor1=Elisabeth Arweck|editor2=William J. F. Keenan|title=Materializing Religion: Expression, Performance and Ritual|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXt2s8XhoBcC&pg=PA65|year=2006|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-5094-2|pages=64–65|chapter=Festivity and the Sacred: The Symbolic Universe in the Festival of the 'Fallas' of Saint Joseph}}</ref> During the four days leading up to 19 March, each group takes its ''ninot'' out for a grand parade, and then mounts it, each on its own elaborate [[firecracker]]-filled [[Paperboard|cardboard]] and [[paper-mâché]] artistic monument, in a street of the given neighbourhood.  This whole assembly is a ''[[Falla monument|falla]]''.

The ''ninots'' and their ''falles'' are constructed according to an agreed-upon theme that has traditionally been a satirical jab at whatever draws the attention of the ''fallers'' (the registered participants of the ''casals'').<ref name="ArweckKeenan2006" /> In modern times, the two-week-long festival has spawned a substantial local industry, to the point that an entire suburban area has been designated the ''Ciutat fallera'' (Falles City). Here, crews of artists and artisans, sculptors, painters, and other craftsmen, all spend months producing elaborate constructions of paper and wax, wood and [[polystyrene|polystyrene foam]] tableaux towering up to five stories, composed of fanciful figures, often caricatures, in provocative poses arranged in a gravity-defying manner.<ref name="El País2014">{{cite news|title=El atractivo turístico de la Ciutat Fallera|url=http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2013/03/05/valencia/1362506634_651316.html|work=El País|issue=València|publisher=Ediciones El País, S.L.|date=5 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031180703/http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2013/03/05/valencia/1362506634_651316.html|archive-date=October 31, 2015|language=es}}</ref> Each of them is produced under the direction of one of the many individual neighbourhood ''casals fallers'' who vie with each other to attract the best artists, and then to create the most outrageous allegorical monument to their target. There are about 750 of these neighbourhood associations in Valencia,<ref name="ArweckKeenan2006" /> with over 200,000 members, or a quarter of the city's population.<ref name="Richards2013">{{cite book|author=Greg Richards|editor=Greg Richards|title=Cultural Tourism: Global and Local Perspectives|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZfhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA271|date=7 March 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-79234-2|page=271|chapter=The Festivalization of Society or the Socialization of Festivals?}}</ref>

During Fallas, many people wear their ''casal faller'' dress of regional and historical costumes from different eras of València's history. The ''[[dulzaina|dolçaina]]'' (an [[oboe]]-like reed instrument) and ''[[drum|tabalet]]'' (a kind of Valencian drum) are frequently heard,<ref name="Villarroya1992">{{cite book|author=Antonio Ariño Villarroya|title=La ciudad ritual: la fiesta de las Fallas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUzLVON2UdMC&pg=PA13|date=1 January 1992|publisher=Anthropos Editorial|isbn=978-84-7658-368-5|page=60}}</ref> as most of the different casals fallers have their own traditional bands.

Although the ''Falles'' is a very traditional event and many participants dress in medieval clothing, the ''ninots'' for 2005 included such modern characters as [[Shrek (character)|Shrek]] and [[George W. Bush]], and the 2012 ''Falles'' included characters like [[Barack Obama]] and [[Lady Gaga]]. A literary contest organised annually since 1903 by the [[Lo Rat Penat]] cultural association recognises the work of local poets who write satirical verses in Valencian that explain these characters. The faller verses are collected in booklets (''llibrets'') and distributed to participants.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.fallas.com/index.php/es/main-noticias-es-articulo/main-noticias-organizacion-es/1203-concurso-de-llibrets-de-lo-rat-penat |title=Concurso de llibrets de Falla |trans-title=Falla Booklets Contest |language=Spanish |work=[[Junta Central Fallera]] |date=1 March 2016 |access-date=2 September 2023 |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211143425/https://www.fallas.com/index.php/es/main-noticias-es-articulo/main-noticias-organizacion-es/1203-concurso-de-llibrets-de-lo-rat-penat |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Events during ''Fallas''==
[[File:Fallers marching band.jpg|thumb|''La despertà'': a band of wind instruments marches through a small street in the early morning.]]
[[File:mascleta 2004a.jpg|thumb|The crowd gathers in the main square, Valencia, Spain]]

The five days and nights of ''Fallas'' might be described as a continuous street party. There are a multitude of processions: historical, religious, and comedic. Crowds in the restaurants spill out into the streets. Explosions can be heard all day long and sporadically through the night. Everyone from small children to elderly people can be seen throwing fireworks and noisemakers in the streets, which are littered with pyrotechnical debris. The timing of the events is fixed, and they fall on the same date every year, though there has been discussion about holding some events on the weekend preceding the Fallas, to take greater advantage of the tourist potential of the festival<ref>[http://www.abc.es/20120320/sociedad/rc-fiesta-unas-fallas-perfectas-201203200131.html Fin de fiesta de unas Fallas perfectas], ABC.es, 20 March 2012</ref> or changing the end date in years where it is due to occur in midweek.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130127174803/http://www.levante-emv.com/fallas/2012/03/20/hosteleros-quieren-fallas/891058.html Los hosteleros quieren ´más´ Fallas], ''Levante'', 20 March 2012</ref>

But outside the Fallas proper, the Fallas season within the Valencian Community begins on the final Sunday of February and lasts till 19 March, St. Joseph's Day.

=== Opening Night (La Crida) === 
Held on the last Sunday of February, ''La Crida'' is held in the evening at the [[Torres de Serranos]], one of the historical gateways to the city. Preceded by a fireworks display and a ''son et lumierie'' show, the city's mayor presents the keys to the Fallera Major and her princess, and after their addresses formally declaring the commencement of the festivities, the [[Himne de l'Exposició]] and [[Marcha Real]] are played by the city band to mark the formal start of the festivity season.

===La Despertà===
Each day of Falles begins at 8:00 am with ''La Despertà'' ("the wake-up call").<ref name="García2014">{{cite book|author=Encarnación Galindo García|title=Las fallas de Valencia: Mucho más que un sueño|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqyTBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|date=30 July 2014|publisher=Edinumen|isbn=978-84-9848-049-8|page=44}}</ref> Brass bands appear from the casals and begin to march down every street playing lively music. Close behind them are the ''fallers'', throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go.[[File:Falleras.jpg|thumb|Falleras during the "replegà"]]

===La Mascletà===
{{Main|Mascletà}}
[[File:Parade_in_historical_Valencian_costumes.jpg|thumb|Falleres in their costumes march with the band]]
The ''Mascletà'', an explosive barrage of coordinated firecracker and [[fireworks]] displays, takes place at 2:00&nbsp;pm from March 1 to 19 (including the festival proper);<ref name="García2014" /> the main event is the municipal Mascletà in the ''Plaça de l'Ajuntament'' where the pyrotechnicians compete for the honour of providing the final Mascletà of the ''festes'' (on 19 March). At 2:00 pm the clock chimes and the Fallera Major, dressed in her ''fallera'' finery, will call from the balcony of [[City Hall]], ''Senyor/a pirotècnic/a, pot començar la mascletà!'' ("Mr./Ms. Pyrotechnic, the Mascletà may commence!"), and the Mascletà begins.

The Mascletà is almost unique to the [[Valencian Community]], and very popular with the Valencian people. Smaller neighbourhoods often hold their own mascletà for saints' days, weddings and other celebrations.

A nighttime variant runs in the evening hours by the same pyrotechnicans that were present in the afternoon. In some days, women pyrotechnicians are selected to compete. The event is televised regionwide.

===La Plantà===
{{Main|Plantà}}
On the day of the 15th, all of the ''falles infantils'' are to be finished being constructed, and later that night all of the ''falles majors'' (big Falles) are to be completed.<ref name="García2014" /> If not, they face disqualification.

Once the City ''Falles Major'' is finally done a fireworks display -''Amb de las Falles'' - is held at City Hall Square to pay tribute to everyone who made these works possible.

===L'Ofrena de flors===
In this event, the flower offering, each of the casals fallers takes an offering of flowers to the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]], titled as ''[[Virgen de los Desamparados|Our Lady of the Forsaken]]'',<ref name="García2014" /> principal patroness of the city of Valencia and the wider Community. This occurs all day during 17–18 March, the first day attended by the Fallera Major and her court. A statue of the Virgin Mary and its large pedestal are then covered with all the flowers.

===Els Castells and La Nit del Foc===
On the nights of the 15, 16, 17, and 18th there are firework displays in the old riverbed in València. Each night is progressively grander and the last is called ''La Nit del Foc'' (the Night of Fire).<ref name="García2014" />

===Cavalcada del Foc===
On the final evening of Falles, at 7:00 pm on 19 March, a parade known in Valencian as the ''Cavalcada del Foc'' (the Fire Parade) takes place along Colón street and Porta de la Mar square. This spectacular celebration of fire, the symbol of the fiesta's spirit, is the ''grand finale'' of Fallas and a colourful, noisy event featuring exhibitions of the varied rites and displays from around the world which use fire; it incorporates floats, giant mechanisms, people in costumes, rockets, gunpowder, street performances and music.

===La Cremà===
{{Main|Cremà}}
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Mascleta 2004b.JPG|Mascletà in [[Valencia]]
La_fallera_y_su_cremá.jpg|A fallera, during the burning of her falla
Bomber faller.jpg|La cremà, 2002
</gallery>
On the final night of Falles, around midnight on 19 March,<ref name="CarvajalHorwood2004">{{cite book|author1=Carol Styles Carvajal|author2=Jane Horwood|author3=Nicholas Rollin|title=Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary: Spanish-English/English-Spanish|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198609773|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-860977-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198609773/page/293 293]}}</ref> these ''falles'' are burnt as huge bonfires. This is known as ''La Cremà'' (the Burning), the climax of the whole event,<ref name="Ariño1999">{{cite book|author=Antonio Ariño|title=El Teatre en la festa valenciana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uo5dAAAAMAAJ&q=%22La%20Crem%C3%A0%22%20%22falles%22d|year=1999|publisher=Generalitat Valenciana|isbn=978-84-482-2333-5|page=328}}</ref> and the reason why the constructions are called ''falles'' ("torches").  Traditionally, the falla in the ''Plaça de l'Ajuntament'' is burned last.

All ''commissions'' have a ''falla infantil'' (children's ''falles'', smaller and without satirical themes), which are held a few meters away from the main one. This is burnt first, at 10:00 pm. The main neighbourhood ''falles'' are burnt closer to midnight; the burning of the ''falles'' in the city centre often starts later. For example, in 2005, the fire brigade delayed the burning of the Egyptian funeral ''falla'' in ''Carrer del Convent de Jerusalem'' until 1:30 am, when they were sure all safety concerns were addressed.

Each ''falla'' is laden with fireworks which are lit first. The construction itself is lit either after or during the explosion of these fireworks. ''Falles'' burn quite quickly, and the heat given off is felt by all around. The heat from the larger ones often drives the crowd back a couple of metres, even though they are already behind barriers that the fire brigade has set several meters from the construction. In narrower streets, the heat scorches the surrounding buildings, and the firemen douse their fronts, window blinds, street signs, etc. with water hoses to stop them catching fire or melting, from the beginning of the ''cremà'' until it cools down.

Away from the ''falles'', people frolic in the streets, the whole city resembling an open-air dance party, except that instead of music there is the incessant (and occasionally deafening) sound of people throwing fireworks around randomly. There are many stalls selling trinkets and snacks such as the typical fried ''porres'', ''churros'' and ''bunyols'', as well as roasted chestnuts.

While the smaller fallas dotted around the streets are burned at approximately the same time, the last falla to be burned is the main one, which is saved until last so that everybody can watch it. This main falla is found outside the ''Ajuntament'' – the city hall building. People arrive a few hours before the scheduled burning time to get a front row view. This final falla is burned in public after the signal from the Fallera Major to officially commence.

===Traditional dress===
The traditional dress worn by "fallers" (males) has changed from black trousers and black jacket with white shirt and other motives, to colorful and a more traditional and historic custom with many decorations. These dresses can be very expensive but not as much as the dresses of the "reines falleras" (queens of the festival) and the Royal Court. Prices of female traditional dresses can vary from 2,000 euros to more than 20,000 euros. Some of them are astonishing in beauty. They are accompanied with traditional hair styles and jewelry.

==History==
[[File:Fallas2017_20_Sueca_Literato_Azorin.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Street lighting of Sueca-Literato Azorín in 2017]]
[[File:xaraguell.jpg|thumb|upright|''{{ill|Saragüells|ca}}'', a traditional Valencian costume for the men]]
There are different conjectures regarding the origin of the Fallas festival. One suggests that the Fallas started in the [[Middle Ages]], when artisans disposed of the broken artefacts and pieces of wood they saved during the winter by burning them to celebrate the [[spring equinox (Northern Hemisphere)|spring equinox]]. Valencian carpenters used planks of wood called ''parots'' to hang their candles on during the winter, as these were needed to provide light to work by. With the coming of the spring, they were no longer necessary, so they were burned.<ref name="RodgersRodgers2002">{{cite book|author=Eamonn Rodgers|title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6KKFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|date=11 March 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-78858-3|page=174}}</ref> Over time, and with the intervention of the Church, the date of the burning of these ''parots'' was made to coincide with the celebration of the festival of [[Saint Joseph]], the patron saint of carpenters.<ref name="AltmanLow2012">{{cite book|author1=Irwin Altman|author2=Setha M. Low|title=Place Attachment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-nvBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA217|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4684-8753-4|page=217}}</ref>

This tradition continued to evolve. The ''parot'' was dressed with clothing so that it looked like a person; features identifiable with some well-known person from the neighbourhood were often added as well. To collect these materials, children went from house to house asking for ''una estoreta velleta'' (an old rug) to add to the ''parot''. This became a popular song that the children sang as they gathered all sorts of old flammable furniture and utensils to burn in the bonfire with the ''parot''. These ''parots'' were the first ''ninots''. Over the years, people of the neighbourhoods began to organise the building of the ''falles'', and thus the typically intricate constructions, including their various figures, were born.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the ''falles'' were tall boxes with three or four wax dolls dressed in fabric clothing. This changed when the creators began to use cardboard. The fabrication of the ''falles'' continues to evolve in modern times, when the largest displays are made of [[polystyrene]] and soft cork easily molded with hot saws. These techniques have allowed the creation of ''falles'' over 30 metres high.

[[File:Children_parading_in_historical_Valencian_costumes.jpg|thumb|left|Children walking in costume of Valencia]]
The origin of the pagan festival is similar to that of the [[Bonfires of Saint John]] celebrated in the [[Alicante]] region, in the sense that both came from the Latin custom of lighting fires to welcome spring. In València, this ancient tradition led to the burning of accumulated waste, particularly wood, at the end of winter on the feast day of Saint Joseph. Given the reputed humorous character of Valencians, it was natural that the people began to burn figurines depicting persons and events of the past year. The burning symbolised liberation from living in servitude to the memory of these events or else represented humorous and often critical commentary on them. The festival thus evolved a more satirical and ironic character, and the wooden castoffs gradually came to be assembled into progressively more elaborate 'monuments' that were designed and painted in advance.

[[File:Mascletà_Senyera.jpg|thumb|right|Start of Fallas 2014]]
In the early 20th century, and especially during the [[Spanish Civil War]], the monuments became more anti-clerical in nature and were often highly critical of the local or national governments,<ref>{{cite book|title=La Valencia de los años 30: entre el paraíso y el infierno|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOtDJje3qiwC&pg=PA207|year=1999|publisher=Carena Editors, S.l.|isbn=978-84-87398-35-3|page=207}}</ref> which tried to ban the Falles many times, without success. Under the dictatorship of [[Francisco Franco]] the celebration lost much of its satirical nature because of government censorship, but the monuments were among the few fervent public expressions allowed then, and they could be made freely in València. During this period, many religious customs such as the offering of flowers to ''Mare de Déu dels Desamparats'' (Our Lady of the Forsaken) were taken up, which today are essential parts of the festival, even though they were unrelated to the original purpose of the celebration.

With the restoration of [[democracy]] and the end of government censorship, the critical ''falles'' reappeared, and obscene satirical ones with them. Despite thirty years of freedom of expression, the world view of the ''faller'' can still be socially conservative, is often sexist and may involve some of the amoralism of Valencian politics. This has sometimes led to criticism by certain cultural critics, environmentalists, and progressives. Yet there are celebrants of all ideologies and factions, and they have different interpretations of the spirit of the celebration. Although recent initiatives such as the [[Pilota valenciana|pilota]] championships, literary competitions and other events have broadened its cultural expression, the city still embraces such ancient traditions to express its own singular identity.<ref>"Villarroya 1992, p. 13</ref>

=== Fallas suspensions ===
Throughout its history the Fallas have been suspended six times.

In 1886 the fallers refused to place the monuments in protest against the increase of the canon from 5 [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]] to 60 pesetas imposed in 1851 that penalized their placement on the street. The follow-up was not complete and there were two failures.

In 1896 a state of war was declared because of the [[Spanish–American War|Spanish American War]], and the Fallas were annulled two days before its beginning.

In the years 1937, 1938 and 1939, the Fallas were suspended due to the [[Spanish Civil War]]. The suspension did not affect the Fallas of 1936 since they had already been held when the war started. The money destined for the Fallas was destined to the republican cause at the beginning of the war.

On 10 March 2020, the [[Generalitat Valenciana|Valencian Generalitat]], after a Ministry of Health report, decided to suspend and postpone the parties of Fallas and all the acts that comprise it as a result of [[COVID-19 pandemic|the coronavirus epidemic]] as a preventive measure to stop the spread of the virus.<ref>{{cite web|title=Health authorities postponed the Valencia Fallas 2020|url=https://www.levante-emv.com/fallas/2020/03/10/suspendidas-fallas-valencia-2020-coronavirus/1987696.html|website=Levante-EMV|date=10 March 2020 |language=es}}</ref> The festival was cancelled in 2021 and returned in 2022.

== Secció Especial ==
The Secció Especial is a group of the largest and most prestigious ''falles'' commissions in the city of Valencia.  In 2007, the group consisted of 14 commissions. This class of ''falles'' was first started in 1942 and originally included the ''falles'' of Barques, Reina-Pau and Plaça del Mercat.  Currently, none of these are still in the group.  The commission that has most often participated in this group as of 2015 was Na Jordana, with 62 times. The Secció Especial awards the prizes with the exception of the one awarded by the Valencia City Council; winning the first prize in the Secció Especial is the most prestigious prize any falla can win. All other ''falles'' fall into different classes (18 as of 2017) determined by the amount of money invested in each of these works.

<gallery mode="packed-hover" caption="Recent winners of Secció Especial">
File:Fallas 2006 Nou Campanar (Valencia).jpg|2006: Nou Campanar
File:Falla Nou Campanar 2007.jpg|2007: Nou Campanar
File:Falla Nou Campanar.jpg|2008: Nou Campanar
File:Falla NouCampanar 2008.JPG|2009: Nou Campanar
File:Falles 2010 - Falla de Covent de Jerusalem.jpg|2010: Convent Jerusalem-Matemàtic Marzal
File:Falla Convento Jerusalen 2.JPG|2011: Convent Jerusalem-Matemàtic Marzal
File:10 Falla Pediatra J Comín-Nou Campanar 2012 (3).JPG|2012: Nou Campanar
File:Convento Jerusalén-Matemàtic Marçal 2013.jpg|2013: Convent Jerusalem-Matemàtic Marzal
File:Falla El Pilar 2014 (2).JPG|2014: Plaza del Pilar
File:Fallas2015_02_Plaza_del_Pilar.jpg|2015: Plaza del Pilar
File:Fallas Cuba-Literato Azorín 2016.jpg|2016: Cuba-Literato Azorín
File:Falla Antiga de Campanar 2017 01.jpg|2017: L'Antiga de Campanar
File:Fallas2018_-_Falla_Convento_06.jpg|2018: Convent Jerusalem-Matemàtic Marzal
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[List of Winners of Sección Especial of Falles]]

== ''Fallas'' gallery ==
;2005
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Fallas 2005 looking down street.jpg|View down street
File:Falleres i fallers drums.jpg|Falleres and fallers merrily beating drums
File:Paella_hirviendo.jpg|Paella being cooked on a wood fire in the middle of the road
File:Falla pintor y gorda.jpg|Falla with painter and fat woman. This was as high as a building.
File:Falla egipcia plorant.jpg|Part of falla with Egyptian funeral procession. In Carrer del Convent de Jerusalem. 2nd prize, special section, Falles 2005.
</gallery>

;2008
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Falla Nou Campanar.jpg|Falla in Nou Campanar
File:Falla infantil Poeta Altet before.jpg|The children's falla in carrer Poeta Altet
File:Falla infantil Poeta Altet burning&sparking.jpg|The same falla with fireworks going off
Image:Falla infantil Poeta Altet blazing.jpg|The same falla blazing
File:Falla egipcia collapsing.jpg|The monumental Egyptian falla, just as the frame of its tallest tower collapses
File:Valenciana.jpg|Falla in the Convento de Jerusalén Street
File:Falla del Pilar Valencia 2007.jpg|Falla in the Pilar's Square
File:Calle iluminada de Sueca-Literato Azorín 2008 2.JPG|Twilight street of Sueca-Literato Azorín
</gallery>

;2010
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Lightning_Falla_Azorin_2010.jpg|Falla Literato Azorín lightning
</gallery>

;2017
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Falla Almirante Cadarso-Conde Altea 2.jpg|Falla Almirante Cadarso-Conde Altea (5th prize)
File:Commedia al Portal Nou.jpg|Falla Na Jordana (7th prize)
File:Fallas2017 09 Convento Jerusalen Matematico Marzal.jpg|Falla Convento Jerusalen Matematico Marzal (3rd prize)
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Falles de València}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130529214853/http://fallasfromvalencia.info/ Official page for the Fallas Festival]
* [http://www.fallas.com Official page for the Fallas Festival Organizing Committee]
* [http://en.comunitatvalenciana.com/what-to-do/festivities/fallas/ninot-exposition Fallas Festival (in Spanish, Valencian, English, French and German)]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNWj8JtPk4 Promotional video of the Fallas Festival 2011]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080318214655/http://www.fallasfromvalencia.com/ Explanation of all the Fallas events in English]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121111223114/https://itunes.apple.com/es/app/the-fallas-11/id423454207?mt=8 iPhone/iPod App for Las Fallas]
* [http://www.maitravelsite.com/world-destinations/europe/the-fallas-in-valencia-the-beauty-of-fire/ The Fallas in Valencia: The Beauty of Fire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330082943/http://www.maitravelsite.com/world-destinations/europe/the-fallas-in-valencia-the-beauty-of-fire/ |date=2013-03-30 }}

{{Fiestas of International Tourist Interest (Spain)}}
{{Intangible Heritage Spain}}
{{Culture of Valencian Community}}
{{Spain topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Falles| ]]
[[Category:Traditions involving fire]]
[[Category:Patronal festivals in Spain]]
[[Category:Religious festivals in Valencia]]
[[Category:Culture of the Valencian Community]]