Fallas de Valencia
Las Fallas turn València into a great space for ephemeral art, satire, music and gunpowder. The Fallas commissions commission monuments made up of ninots, plant them in streets and squares and burn them at the end of a festive cycle that mobilizes artists, artisans, musicians and the neighbourhood throughout the year.
Celebration date
The central days go from 15 March to 19. The children's plant is usually held on the 15th and the large monuments on the 16th; la cremà closes the festival on the 19th, the feast of San José. The official calendar usually begins weeks before with exaltations, the Ninot Exhibition and the Crida.
19 March is a regional holiday when established in the work calendar of the Valencian Community. The popular celebration and its programme cover more days, which do not automatically acquire the character of a public holiday.
View the Valencia Fallas 2026 programme.
Where are they celebrated?
Hundreds of Fallas demarcations distribute monuments and mansions throughout the neighbourhoods of Valencia. The Town Hall square concentrates the mascletaes and the municipal falla; the Serranos Towers host the Crida; The offering arrives at the Plaza de la Virgen through the streets of La Paz and San Vicente; and large castles are shot in locations determined by each programme.
Also check out the festivals of Valencia.
Origin and history
The festival has been documented at least since the second half of the 18th century. Its popular explanation relates it to carpenters' bonfires on the eve of Saint Joseph, although the celebration evolved into a complex system of commissions, Fallas artists, awards, public events and transmission of trades.
The monuments developed a strong satirical dimension: scenes and ninots comment on social and political issues through caricature, wit and criticism. Each commission accompanies its failure with a llibret, música y vida comunitaria.
Main events and traditions
- Crida: public call from the Torres de Serranos that officially opens the festive cycle.
- Exposición del Ninot: sample of figures candidates for pardon by popular vote.
- Mascletà y despertà: daytime pyrotechnic compositions and morning parades of gunpowder and music.
- Plantà: final assembly of children's and large monuments for evaluation and visit.
- Ofrenda: parade of commissions to deliver flowers to the Mare de Déu dels Desemparats.
- Nit del Foc and castles: grandes espectáculos pirotécnicos nocturnos.
- Cremà: ordered burning of the monuments on the night of 19 March, including the children's monuments and the municipal falla.
Quién organiza y participa
The Fallas commissions support the celebration from their homes and demarcations. Junta Central Fallera coordinates numerous events and competitions together with the Valencia City Council. Fallas artists, pyrotechnicians, clothing designers, musicians, florists, guilds, Falleras Mayores and Cortes de Honour participate, as well as the neighbourhood and visitors.
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
UNESCO inscribed the Fallas festival of Valencia in 2016 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. He highlighted collective creativity, the transmission of arts and crafts, the role of communities and their contribution to identity and social cohesion.