A Burning Love - The Fallas Festival

During, March 2013, I gathered on the streets of Aldaia with the Valencian people to celebrate the fiesta of Las Fallas. The celebration is held in commemoration of Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus. The festival culminated in the burning of sizeable, comical and ornate effigies. These effigies symbolise undesirable elements of society, which the community wish to dispense with unconditionally. On the final night of the festival called "La Cremá", I witnessed the effigies being burned in a cleansing ceremony that aimed to purify the community of evil.

The mainstream media often air news from the grand finale of Las Fallas in the autonomous region of Valencia. However, there is a more pertinent question to ask than just reporting on the striking spectacle and end-game of the fiesta:

What is it like to experience the festival as a fully fledged member of a Fallas committee?

The many Fallas committees in Valencia fund, plan, create and promote the festival throughout the year. A Fallero (Fallas committee member) called Chiki once said, "Las Fallas is not just about seeing the spectacle of ballistic fireworks and the towering inferno of burning effigies, more importantly it's about participation in the festival."

In one act of participation, I watched the Falleros work tirelessly, non-stop, throughout the night to mount and elevate the effigies. The festival work resembled a bizarre barn raising party as they carried and then erected the giant effigy at the festival spot. Of course, the Fallas flipside to a barn, was eventually burned asunder after only nine days standing proud in situ.

At, Las Fallas, I could almost grasp the echo of a lost pagan burning ritual as publicised by Yoko Ono. However, instead of Ms. Ono scribbling her fears on notepaper and burning it to eliminate suffering, the Falleros set alight effigies to free themselves from the bondage of discontent. Ultimately, this freedom allows the community to progress and better itself.

You might protest, to destroy these effigies is a form of wanton vandalism, which fruitlessly squanders away money. However, they destroy to create at the festival like the perpetual cyclic nature of life, because these effigies have a symbolic life, karma, death and rebirth; when next year's effigy is born. Las Fallas turns destruction into creation over and over again. Year in and year out. As, Pablo Picasso once said, "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”

By Paul Louis Archer: Paul Louis Archer Photography

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Comments

[Publicado por: Paul Louis Archer]

Hello Falla Colonia Aldaia and EV. Thanks for your feedback. I'm glad you appreciate my work. Saludos cordiales - Paul

[Publicado por: EV]

Wow, interesting report. J.V. TORDERA superb. definitely a leader.

[Publicado por: falla colonia Aldaia]

thank you very much Paul ia @elpaisinenglish by the article, A Burning Love - The Fallas Festival in peoples experiences of failures is more familiar, closer to the visitor and more participatory.
From our failure to thank you once again.