The Las Fallas festival continues here in Valencia, and every day something new happens! Today it was time for the parade through Valencia, as each regional association (those who also compete with the different statues) join the train heading to Plaza de la Virgen, to offer flowers to Valencia's patron saint Our Lady of the Forsaken.
Flowers for the patron saint
There is a lot going on during the festival Las Fallas in Valencia. We've already seen huge statues and heard daily fireworks, the "mascleta". Today it was time for the flower parade!
The parade in Valencia starts in the afternoon and continues well into the evening. Everyone brings flowers to be sacrificed, and the sacrificed flowers are then hung on a 15 metre high scaffold to form a mantle for the patron saint, Our Lady of the Forsaken.
Impressive parade through Valencia
The parade was impressive! Everyone takes part in traditional clothing, and each regional organisation has its own standard bearer and its own band. The parade really took never end! Association after association marched past, and there were women and men, children and young people, adults and elderly people. As if just all was there.
Our Lady of the Forsaken
We watched the parade for an hour and a half, before giving up and heading back to the campervan on the the car park in Valencia. But the parade continued long after that ...
Before we went back, we at least went past the end of the parade, that is, Plaza de la Virgen where the saint Our Lady of the Forsaken was being dressed with all the flowers. This was very fantastic for us to experience and we would love to do it again, but it is completely wrong time for Swedish holidays. No matter how long we walked, there were people waiting to go in the parade and it would be like 8-10 hours more. Absolutely crazy big and a folk festival without equal.
Johanna in Skåne says:
What dresses! Looks like an awesome celebration!
17 March 2015 - 23:30
BP says:
You are obviously in the RIGHT place! Absolutely fantastic! The husband and I have just said that we just have to witness this irl - after your posts about the festival, that is :-)
17 March 2015 - 23:31
Rantamor on the retina says:
But oh how nice clothes they have.
The little dolls are adorably cute.
That's how it should look when you have a party.
What were you wearing?
Tjingelingen from Rantamor.
18 March 2015 - 3:29
Marie says:
What a party! They look just like those dolls I got from my grandfather when he was in Spain. Remember those folkloric dolls with folk costumes from around the world? That was a few years ago.
18 March 2015 - 7:55
Role o Carina says:
They are beautifully dressed, what a party!!!
Take care
18 March 2015 - 8:14
Mr Steve says:
'Life is a party'.
18 March 2015 - 9:11
Anders and Birgitta says:
What beautiful pictures, especially the children were so beautiful.
18 March 2015 - 9:13
Henny says:
WOW, what experiences you will have. Memories for life, for sure. Did you know about this festival before you left Sweden or have you received tips along the way?
18 March 2015 - 9:18
admin says:
Johanna, fantastic dresses indeed!
BP, so glad you've been inspired! It's a great festival!
Rantamor, we (and everyone else not in the parade) wore ordinary clothes. So we weren't alone as luck would have it.
Marie, no I don't know for sure... But I can understand that they made dolls with these clothes!
Anders and Birgitta, the children were so nice! And there were so many!!!
Henny, we had never heard of this festival. We only heard about it when we were in Benidorm.
18 March 2015 - 10:09
Ditte says:
Oh, those parades! Fun to watch, I can imagine. Beautiful pictures and cool creations. Good to pick the "raisins out of the cake".
Also in Torrevieja there are many parades in the spring with a similar concept and now for Easter it continues.
18 March 2015 - 11:55
admin says:
Ditte, I understand that Spain likes this kind of festivities! Easter also seems cool! Let's see if we can see it in Barcelona maybe!
18 March 2015 - 12:10
Christine - 29GRADER says:
What fun! In Bali there is also a parade and folk festival now on Friday. Which is very big even here and you can watch the parade for hours as large monsters are carried forward to the beat of percussion and torches.
18 March 2015 - 13:59
solveig rhann says:
Fantastic pictures...and what a great guide! You are probably quite tired after all the fun partying! Thanks for the reply, now the neighbour will be happy and can go to Valencia.
18 March 2015 - 17:10
Mr Lars Permelin says:
The Spaniards sure like colours, thanks for the nice pictures.
18 March 2015 - 18:09
admin says:
Christine, that also sounds like a really festive celebration!
Solan, today we have rested in the motorhome, to be able to go out tonight!
Lars, they seem to like colours and parties!
18 March 2015 - 18:27
Matts Torebring says:
How lucky you are and what a party to be a part of. Enjoy yourselves
18 March 2015 - 20:19
Ama de casa says:
If there's one thing the Spanish are good at, it's parades - it's so lovely to watch them.
18 March 2015 - 20:47
Lena & Jan says:
Beautiful clothes, nice pictures! It really pleases us that you went there and got to experience the festival!
18 March 2015 - 21:31
Stina says:
Wonderfully beautiful and colourful pictures/Stina
18 March 2015 - 21:05
Marina says:
What lovely pictures! This is exactly what the Spanish souvenir doll looked like when I was little, given to me by an aunt who had been to Spain.
19 March 2015 - 3:49
Snows says:
It looks really festive and what beautiful clothes!
19 March 2015 - 10:46
admin says:
Matts, yes, we had some luck here! A cool festival to be part of!
Ama de casa, this parade was really impressive. Awesome!
Stina, glad you like the photos! It was a colourful parade.
Lena & Jan, we were a bit lucky that it fit so well in time. An experience!
Marina, another reader remembered those dolls too! Peter also said he remembers them.
Znogge, this is really a big party!
19 March 2015 - 11:31
Renate's travels says:
19 March 2015 - 22:40
FANTASYDINING-A blog about themed restaurants and travel says:
Oh how nice they are! Next year I just have to go here!
20 March 2015 - 12:04
Deciree says:
What a parade:) What a commitment by all who participated:))
20 March 2015 - 19:19
Anna in Dubai says:
Looks like fun! They look like walking porcelain dolls!
23 March 2015 - 19:46