That Time of year again

We here in Valencia are hard at celebrating our annual Fallas festival. The season was started in very late February, and it seems to get earlier every year. One reason we put forward in making a whole lot of noise is to scare away the old man of Winter. It always seems to work so why change it if it ain't broken.

As always, many of those downtown Valencian residents head out of town when the noise starts. It's fine for those of us who live in the suburbs as we can still get to sleep throughout the whole of the festival. When you live downtown there continues lots of noise late into the night, and to make matters worse it all starts again at eight o'clock in the morning as they come to wake you up.

Effectively Valencia shuts down against motorised traffic because so many streets are closed as they have Fallas monuments planted right in the middle of them. That's one reason why residents take their cars and head for the mountains. Fallas, as wonderful as it is becomes old hat after a while and we Valencians become jaded. Perhaps it's better to attend  every few years to keep it fresh.

It is so liberating to walk around to view the fine work that has gone on over the past year without having to be confined to sidewalks. There are so many people who head for the city as they consider that to be the main event that we can barely move. However, every pueblo has it's own contribution so there is no real need to go elsewhere, but people feel the need to at least visit the city at least once.

Part of the excitement is to turn a corner and walk straight into some wonderful event taking place involving bands and gaily dressed participants. It's great if you like pleasant surprises.

Long live the Fallas Festival, even if it is a pain in the neck for driving around. That part only lasts a week which seems a small price to stage one of the grandest shows on earth.

Drive carefully!

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael