Archivado en the ‘Local festivals’ Category

La Tomatina in Buñol!

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

La Tomatina is a food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the town of Buñol in the Valencia region of Spain. Tens of metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets in exactly one hour.

The week-long festival features music, parades, dancing, and fireworks. On the night before, participants of the festival compete in a paella cooking contest. It is tradition for the women to wear all white and the men to wear no shirts. This festival started in a casual way in 1945[1], but wasn’t officially recognized until 1952. Approximately 20,000–50,000 tourists come to find out more about the tomato fight, multiply by several times Buñol’s normal population of slightly over 9,000. There is limited accommodation for people who come to La Tomatina, and thus many participants stay in Valencia and travel by bus or train to Buñol, about 38 km outside the city. In preparation for the dirty mess that will ensue, shopkeepers use huge plastic covers on their storefronts in order to protect them. They also use about 150,000 tomatoes, just about 90,000 pounds.

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Neapolitan Mascletà and Ninot parade

Friday, March 5th, 2010

We continue with popular celebrations of the Valencian Community and the Falles. Yesterday, the mascletà was suspended due to the rain, and it’s been a few days that the traditional neapolitan mascletà at the beach has been involved in a controversy that made people doubt about it being actually celebrated. Finally, it’s been approved by the provincial government, so this Saturday at 6pm, the beach of the Arenas (Sands) will become the stage for this show filled with flying sounds and colours.

And later, starting at 10:30pm, we suggest you attend another of the most representative celebrations of the Falles: the Ninot procession, a parade with chariots where fallers go around Downtown Valencia wearing costumes with a satirical tone, related to today’s topics and famous people.

We hope the rain doesn’t ruin this weekend and stop the celebrations of these two representative Falles events.

Come celebrate the Magdalena!

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

We told you the other day March is a month of celebrations, and not only for the city of Valencia. If you’re around this weekend, we encourage you to go to Castellon and find out about its popular event: the Magdalena (Magdalene).
Saturday March 6th at noon, there will be an official announcement for the celebration, with the launch of commemorative fireworks and mascletà. Starting then, there’s a week (from March 6th to the 14th) filled with parades, tolling of bells, pyrotechnics, typical “mesones” for drinking and eating “tapas” and much more.
Also, you’ll be able to see the gaiatas, monuments with lights that remind people of the rods and lamps that, according to tradition, castellonenses used to feel their way through the swampy lands during their trip from the hills of the Magdalena to the plains.
We encourage you to get to know the popular celebrations of Castellon and then… get ready for Fallas!

Falles are close…

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

The Fallas (Falles in Valencian) are around the corner. Two weeks away from the Falles week, Valencia starts welcoming the inauguration acts of the most popular celebrations of the Valencian Community. This very Sunday 28th the Cridá is celebrated, which is the oficial beginning of the event. At 8pm, lots of falleros are reunited at the Torres de Serrano (Serrano Towers) waiting for the speeches of the mayoress of Valencia and the city’s fallera mayor. After this, the regional hymn is heard and there’s a fireworks show.

But early risers can start with the celebration even earlier. At 7am, it’s time for the classic Despertà, which goes around downtown Valencia from the Glorieta, through Calle de la Paz to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall). For the Despertà, this year they’ll give away 300.000 tro de bac, the most representative firework of the Falles and Valencian tradition, and it’s supposed to be an event with mass audiences. Then at 2pm, the first Mascletà of the year will be held, in charge of Valencian Pyrotechnics.

If you’re in Valencia this weekend, we recommend you don’t miss it, it’s a good chance to see the start of the Falles and get to know first hand the festive ambience that will be all over the city during the month.