Travel + Leisure India & South Asia — October 2017

travelandleisureindia.in 61

BEYOND

Festival

t midnight, I was sitting in

Ubik Café in Russafa with

a cup of green tea, taking

pictures of Harry Potter

in Spanish to send to

Potterheads back home.

Adam, a journalist from

Singapore, had wanted to check out

the nightlife in Valencia and I had

tagged along. Three more bars down,

Adam and I were in the middle of

a street party, dancing to English

numbers with strangers.

Just a few hours before this, we had

witnessed an emotional procession

of falleros and falleras in traditional

costumes bringing fl owers to the

Virgin Mary—called Ofrenda de las

Flores—at the Plaza de la Virgen.

Tears streaming down their faces,

babies in their hands, marching bands

marking their approach towards the

gigantic wooden statue of Mary which

the volunteers were decorating with

white and red fl owers.

La Fallas in Valencia has many

facets: art, religion, competition, and

unstoppable festivities. At the centre

of it all is blatant noise. Not just cheers

from the crowd, but fi reworks in

the afternoon, crackers all day,

pyrotechnics at night, and blasting

music till wee hours. Unsuspecting

tourists in the city are startled each

time a cracker burst on the street—

I speak from experience, for the night

I walked back to the hotel, I took

turns fl inching and tiptoeing.

On a subsequent night, however,

I was part of the merrymakers at the

Cabalgata del Fuego (fi re parade),

where red-hooded men and women

fl ooded the streets along with giants,

fl oats, dancers, and music bands. As

Incandescence

Days of

spectators made abeeline along the barricaded

pavements, emboldened byspirit of the fallas,

I videotaped dragons in the midst of the flames.

It’s not just the booming sound; it’s the

effervescence that comes with it—that’s the

flavourI enjoyed the most.

LaFallas has changed with time. Centuries

ago, carpenters would set ablaze theirparots

(wooden burning device) on the street, feeding

the fire with old wood and junk, and welcome

spring on the dayof St Jose. In the

mid-19thcentury, human-like figures,

ninots appeared and the modern-day

festival was born. Nowthe falleros

spend awhole yearto design and

create these—you’ll see in every

block, each more elaborate than the

next. Tall, larger-than-life, these

caricatures explore sexuallyexplicit

themes and use political statements

that you maycompletelymiss if you

don’t payclose attention (I had aguide

to tell me what each one meant to say).

On the last night of the festival at

midnight, these ninots were burnt to

the ground in aceremonycalled, La

Crema(not verydifferent from

Dussehra) and the cityerupted in

blazing (but controlled) fires.

The next morning, all traces of the

fireworks and bonfires were wiped

clean. The crowds were gone. The

parties were over. The costumes were

packed. What was left was the quiet

citybackto everydayrealities—

wayward cyclists, runners in blinding

neon colours, bikers in leatherjacket,

and seductive, funnygraffiti on the

street walls. ▪

Stay at Hotel Balneario

Las Arenas The beachfront

hotel offers garden- and

sea-view rooms, modern

Valencian cuisine at Sorolla

Restaurant, and a wellness

circuit at Las Arenas Spa.

hotelvalencialasarenas.com

Drink horchata Made of

tiger nit, horchata is a cool

drink that you will find on

the streetside—in cafes

and restaurants, and even

supermarkets. It is also very

healthy with very little sugar

and no lactose.

Eat at Lalola The funky

restaurant serves traditional

Spanish dishes; paella is a

must-try here. The decor

takes a cue from flamenco

and every week, there are

flamenco nights with a live

band. lalolarestaurante.com

Shop at Market Colon The

Art Nouveau building built

in 1916 houses pavement

cafes and restaurants, but it

is known for its food market.

The structure is beautiful—it

takes inspiration from Gaudi’s

style of architecture for the

brick façade and has the

glass and iron vault inside.

Visit Oceanogràfic Meet

sea lions, penguins, sharks,

dolphins, and walruses

here—this is Europe’s biggest

aquarium divided into climate

zones of its inhabitants.

oceanografic.org

Fallas is the nameof thefestival, but it THINGS TO DO

also refers to the communities ofwhichfalleros

and falleras are part.Theword also

denotesninots(papier-mâchécaricatures).

The fi ve-day La Fallas in Valencia means open-air

street parties, poignant religious ceremonies, fi reworks and

fi recrackers, and thought-provoking caricatures—the

crowds, the colours, and the noise make it the

biggest celebration in the city. By Apeksha Bhateja

The streets come to life with

colourful ninots during Las

Fallas in Valencia.

Clockwise:The falleras parade in traditional silk outfits;

street art and graffiti paint the city in different hues; the old

town in Valencia is lined with bright-coloured buildings.

A

DENNIS COX/ALAMY CLOCKWISE: BRUCE YUANYUE BI/GETTYIMAGES; LUZ MARTIN/ALAMY; IVAN VDOVIN/ALAMY

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