The city of Valencia sits along the banks of the Turia River. Its history, architecture and city life draw in tourists throughout the year, but during the Spring, the real draw is the Falles festival.
A community’s creation for Las Falles.
The celebration is held in commemoration of Saint Joseph. Each community in Valencia comes together and creates their own wooden structures representing different characters or images. Once the sun sets, the city lights up as the structures are set on fire and the celebration continues.
This celebration was what drew Becca Shuey and her friends to travel to Valencia.
I went with about 6 of my closest friends from the Alicante program and we all rented a hostel about 5-6 blocks away from the main event of Las Falles. We got there mid-day, after taking a train from Alicante through Barcelona then to Valencia.
Becca and her friends spent the day in the Valencia admiring the different structures that were created, and joining in on the celebration.
The burning of the creations for Las Falles begins.
The whole city was lit up with the flames from these structures burning. It was something spectacular and it was beautiful to see everyone’s pride in that holiday and special event. Everyone was able to party in the streets and no fights or riots broke out; that is one thing I love about Spain and their respect for one another.
While the Las Falles festival is a great draw to Valencia, the city itself has its own great things to offer.
Unfortunately we did not get as much time as we wanted in Valencia other than for the festival, but from what we saw it was beautiful. It looked like a smaller Madrid. Very city oriented but then had smaller areas that were more for locals and were hidden from the city life. I regret not spending a day more in Valencia and being able to tour the city in the daylight after the Las Falles aftermath began.
What we can take away from Becca’s experience is, no matter what reason you choose to go to Valencia, it’s a good one. The city has so much to offer and so much to see. Whether it be during Las Falles festival or just an ordinary day, you’ll have a great experience.
You can find out more about how you can go to Valencia, Spain on our website.
Happy travels!
–USAC
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