Let's Build a Goddess!

     Valencia. Valencia en Fallas! The exclamation point represents a mascletà, because that's the epicenter of this greatest of all celebrations. I've written about the mascletà previously here in a blog post about my 2009 Fallas experience. I don't have too much to add, except that this year, my eighth Fallas, we had the privilege of experiencing a mascletà launched by Reyes Martí. It was a wonderful surprise to hear the Fallera Mayor begin the ritual announcement "Señora pirotécnica..." And Reyes Martí did not disappoint! I wasn't familiar with her and that seemed strange, but later I learned that Martí for many years has been doing the March 8th mascletà, which is International Women's Day, over a week before we can be there, but that this year, for the first time, she accepted the offer of participating on one of the festival's días grandes. The weather was perfect on the 18th and we took our place around noon, two hours before the ritual 2 pm start. It may seem crazy to many to wait two hours for a seven minute pyrotechnic show, but apparently tens of thousands of people also feel the way I do: by noon the fourth row was as close as we could get to the barrier. By 12:45 the Plaza del Ayuntamiento was overflowing and the streets leading into the square were quickly filling up.

At 1:50 all of downtown Valencia is a tightly packed can of sardines. You simply can't move. The wait went by fairly quickly and the atmosphere was wonderful. Suffice to say that Martí's final "earthquake" was extraordinary. Even more, the greatest ever! The ground was, literally, shaking beneath our feet, the absurd explosive power washing over the multitude and filling us all with giddy delight. Joy! An adrenaline rush like no other! Martí deserved all the accolades she got. As she told a reporter before the launch, her goal was to "shatter the plaza". Did she ever! If you're curious, you can watch this mascletà here, but keep in mind it is absolutely nothing like actually being there. The next day Asun decided not to do the long wait, which was too bad, but I had the great fortune of being joined by niece Maggie Murray, who was going to experience her first mascletà up close.

I got to the square at 11:25 and found a great second row spot. The wait was fine and we had some marvelous conversation with an entertaining gentleman who was a fellow mascletá fanatic. And who bears a striking resemblance to my brother Peter!:

He's been enjoying them for 55 years from the same spot! This final mascletà was the work of Hermanos Caballer. It was truly excellent, but for me not quite as overwhelming as Martí's.
     If possible I would go to Valencia every year for Fallas, even if there were nothing but the mascletàs. But of course the fiesta is much, much more than that. First and foremost are the fiesta's namesake monuments: the fallas. Here's the contribution from L'Antiga de Campanar, which took home the Grand Prize:

It was a controversial choice. Our favorite was Na Jordana:

The wonderful absurdity of dedicating many months of work, and in many cases very large sums of money (over $200,000 for the biggest fallas), to the building of these satirical monuments, only to have them on public display for just four days before they go up in flames is breathtaking. And it's the core of the fiesta. Walking around the city and admiring these impressive creations is certainly great fun. You can spend endless hours just doing that and you still won't seem them all because there are close to 800 fallas all told.
     For me, Fallas is quite special because far more than any other fiesta I've experienced, this one is successful in moving me out of ordinary time and into another dimension which is very real, albeit fleeting and for the most part superficial. (Not superficial in a negative sense, but rather in the sense that it lacks real profundity.) The fiesta works its magic. Every time. Ritual is central to this dynamic and Fallas has many, many rituals, the grandest being the flower offering which takes place on March 17th and 18th. Hundreds and hundreds of comisiones (the neighborhood groups that are responsible for organizing the building of the fallas monuments) take their turns parading through downtown and into the Plaza de la Virgen to offer flowers for the giant reproduction of Valencia's matron: la Virgen de los Desamparados (perhaps translatable as "Our Lady of the Dispossessed" or "Our Lady of the Unembraced") The flowers are used to create a gigantic floral cape:

It's quite a spectacle and always the same. Festive! The image of the comisiones entering the square is a classic Fallas "estampa" and every year newspapers and other media are flooded with the key element of this image: the fallera shedding tears of emotion as she offers her bouquet. (I'd get emotional too if I had a direct role in building a goddess! And I don't mean that as an irreverent joke. Regardless of what the Church proclaims in its official dogma, this is a Mediterranean fiesta and there is no doubt about what's going on here. The Mare de Déu is most clearly being worshipped as a Goddess. And it's wonderful.)

It's a 24 hour parade, split over two days! It took a while, but Asun, Maggie and I eventually made our way into the square and were able to get fairly close. I was standing a couple of rows behind Maggie and Asun. After a while I noticed a little commotion behind me and it was a family fighting to get close so they could see their son march by the Virgen. I moved back so they could take my place. As I was exchanging places the father was overcome with emotion and with tears streaming down his cheeks began calling out to his son: "Mi angel, mi angelito!" ¡Una emoción fuerte! After that I needed a breather, some refreshment (and a bathroom break) so we stepped into, of course, Cafetería La Virgen!

And then it was back to walking and visiting Fallas. It was a long walk out to L'Antiga de Campanar, but well worth it. And then fireworks! At 1:30 am. (Yes, they start at 1:30 am!) And then the 19th, another mascletá, this one followed by a wonderful lunch with all our students at the revamped Hotel Reina Victoria.

A siesta. Later, our own little fireworks show! (Notice my expert handling of the lighter!)

Well, all good fun must come to an end. Fallas always ends like this, with the city going up in flames in the grand Cremà. We decided to watch the Cremà of the Estévez-Amorós Falla, which won first prize in Section 1A:

It's always fun to see the firefighters hosing down the facades of buildings. After all, that's what keeps the city from truly going up in flames. That would be a fantastic job: firefighter in Valencia. But only during Fallas! And so we go to bed purged. Ready for Spring, for a new start. Our Goddess stands proudly and beautifully. But not for long. Quickly, it's back into ordinary time, but now armed with magnificent memories of good meals, fun walks, beautiful fallera dresses, the constant beat of petardos, colorful fallas, perfect weather... la fiesta. And that's why I write this down: otherwise I forget. And I never want to forget Fallas.