Las Fallas

Well I didnt realize it started this soon, but the sound of thousands of people congregating and fireworks going off right outside my hotel room window gave it away – Las Fallas has begun in Valencia!

As that link explains, it will gather steam throughout May until around the 15th-19th which is the main part of the whole thing, but what just happened for the first time was this particular event (probably made even grander by March 1st falling on a Sunday when everyone is out and about anyway):

“Every day at 2pm firecrackers rip through the Plaza del Ayuntamiento in an noisy event called la Mascletá. This concert of gunpowder is very popular and involves different neighbourhood groups competing for the most impressive volley, ending with the terremoto, (literally means “earthquake”) as hundreds of masclets exploting simultaneously. While this may not be for the frail or faint-fainthearted, you understand how hearted, the Valencians got their valiant name.”

My hotel is right on the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, so when I ventured downstairs to check it out (since a siesta was obviously out of the question), I could barely get outside the hotel into the throws of the giant crowd of people.

I took a few videos which I will post and send a link to at some point.  It was seriously deafening.  Not so much a visual thing (though many of the fireworks/explosives did shoot up into the air), but more of a heart-pounding mass of loud artillery for about 10 minutes.  Wow.

–Wil

p.s.  here are a couple of links to videos in case I cant post mine for a bit, plus mine probably wont be as good anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtzJcQd-g5M

http://www.fallasfromvalencia.com/en/videos/mascleta.html

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