Last weekend I went to Valencia for Electro Fallas, an electronic musical festival held the in the extremely modern Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias. I have been recovering since then, which is why I haven’t written anything. Just Kidding. I haven’t had the time.
Las Fallas is a festival that spans from February until March with the most important aspects happening around the second week in March. It;s a festival honoring Saint Joseph (March 18th) and the end of winter with the arrival of Spring. March 18th is also father’s day here. Displayed on every corner throughout the city are colorful wooden and paper mache sculptures, called ninots. They are massive, some as tall as 20 feet and each in some way satires a political figure, or a soap star, or something imaginary. Some are grotesque – others playful and charming. Then, on the final day, March 18th, they set them aflame. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see this part, but I did get to see some of the ninots as we drove through Valencia. The ones I saw were incredibly, breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly detailed. I was told that they can cost between 300,000 euro to 1 million or more to make! Along with colorfully decorated ninots there are explosions ringing throughout the city. People of all ages are constantly setting off firecrackers and fireworks in celebration. If you really wanted to commit a murder, it would be the perfect couple of days, since nobody would be able to distinguish between a gun shot and the constant noise of… noise.
I went to Electro Fallas with my friend Paco and a few of his friends. We stayed in his friend’s Parra house. It was in a town called Calpe, about an hour away from the city of Valencia. Calpe is a coastal town on the Mediterranean and is a huge summer destination for English people. Luckily we weren’t there during the summer so it was pretty much deserted.
We left Tomelloso on Firday night and arrived to Calpe at about 1 in the morning. I was ready to go to bed to rest up for the next day because I knew it was going to be a long one, however I was the only one that felt this way (of course, Spanish people never skip a night of partying). When we got there they broke out the beer and liquor and we started drinking. We stayed up until 5ish and then woke up the next day at around 1130ish. We hung around and then left for Valencia around 5ish. By the time we got there, picked up one of their friends, navigated the city through traffic and found a place to park it was about 8:30. The music festival started at 8 and went until 7:30 in the morning. We botellon (drinking outside) until 12 and then left to enter the festival grounds. There were three different stages with different types of music EDM music. We spent our time mixing between two of them. I really wanted to see a dj called W&W, but when we went to go, they weren’t letting anyone because it too full. While unfortunate, I still had an amazing time.
I literally did not stop dancing or get off my feet until 8:30 am the next day. It was a unique experiencing watching the sky get lighter outside while we were still dancing inside. By 7, my legs ached and felt like dead weights. I went from jumping around earlier in the night to a back and forth wobble. My legs have never been so depleted in my life. I was but a shell of a human walking back to the car. When we got back, we probably waited for about two hours so the drivers could sleep. With no food and extreme exhausting, it was a struggle. It wasn’t until we got back and at around 12:30pm did we settle down for naps. I probably only slept for about 3 hours. Then we packed up and left. We arrived to Tomelloso around 11 and for the first time in, I have no idea how long, I ate Burger King. A memorable experience for a memorable weekend.
Awesome photos.