I'll promise, this will be the last post related to Mascletàs! At least for the next few years. If you've seen my other posts, you'll already know what a Mascletà is. People often wonder why these fireworks are shot off in broad daylight. The main reasons are the smoke, noise and rhythm of the explosions, but also, there is plenty to look at: including explosions, glitter and colored powder. If you adjust the contrasts, you can actually see what's going on. For example:
Isn't it beautiful? I played around with these kind of pictures during Fallas 2015, and have decided to produce more for this year. I think these explosions are pieces of art which are difficult to notice until they've been tampered with, in photo-editing software.
Above you can see how a smaller street Mascletà is set up. The regular 2pm Mascletà in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento is similar, but on a much bigger scale. If you happen to be in Valencia for Fallas and encounter one of these street Mascletàs, please be warned. They're EXTREMELY loud.
The explosives look like candy dangling from a string. And when Mike showed up at his first Mascletà, that's actually what he thought they were! He didn't know anything about Valencia, and showed up to something called a "Mascletà", expecting some kind of dance where the Falleras and Falleros would gather the dangling treats. Like a Valencian Piñata 😂! Watch the full video of the street Mascletà below:
As you can see, these firecrackers which look like candy light up, drop to the floor and explode! The Valencians (and we) get a major kick out of it. And the craziest thing is, after the final Mascletà on the last day of Fallas, every group in the city lights up one of these... it lasts for hours, and the entire city is shaking with incredible energy.
During Fallas 2018, Mike and I saw 23 Mascletàs (including two at night) and three fireworks! That sounds like overkill, but we loved every single BOOM. Enjoy my collection of Mascletà photographs and highlights video below:
I went to 3 mascletàs (only). You guys defeat me by far, haha.
Did you note people more packed this year? As you may know, for safety reasons, police kept a lot of extra space and created evacuation lanes this year. This caught my attention the first days, but don't know how it worked the last days.
Luckily (and miraculously, given the amount of people and "organized"chaos) nothing happened. I always thought that valencian police and firefighters are among the best prepared in the world for this situations because they train every year with Fallas.
BTW... Excellent pictures as usual. And reading your lines, you totally captured the essence of mascletàs.
This was our first Mascleta after Barcelona! We noticed the changes as well. In fact they closed down the route we prefer to get to the main plaza. They even talked about handing out tickets up front to only let in a certain amount of people into the plaza. I never felt unsafe during Fallas, thanks to the Valencians who know how to behave in a crowd. Do you live in VLC?
Yes, I live in a town next to Valencia.
Tickets? Really? We might end seeing this one day, but it would kill the essence of mascletàs. My bag was checked by a policeman before entering a metro station. First time it happens to me as well. Was kind of relief because I always thought there was "no control" to some crazy people taking 'bombs' or similar to metro or to outside crowds. I mean, I always trust the police doing their job, but maybe this year was the first we noticed so clearly after Barcelona.
Oh .. we did 4 Fallas so we went to over 120 Mascletas ... not counting the ones outside of Fallas! :)
Haha, your average is amazing. I just go to 3 or 4 every year, maybe 6 o 7.
For us ... we have to see all :) But we live pretty close to Ayuntamiento, so sitting at home or going there ... it's almost the same :)
So lucky!! It could only get better if you live in one of the buildings in the Plaza! :)
I love fireworks!!!!!! Every 4th of July, I sit under the display and ooooh and ahhhh like a child. I would LOVE to see them for days ! hahahahaha what a neat post! thank you so much for sharing this - this might be a bucket list item for me!!! :)
If you like fireworks, Valencia is the place to be. They pyrotechnicians of the city are being celebrated like super stars!
and now i know this!!!! hehehe i bet it was amazing to experience all of this! i'm jealous :)
This was our 4th Fallas ... and we're aiming to be back in Valencia in 2021 for more FALLAS :)
So colorful..so beautiful! The quality of pictures really brought a smile on my face so thanks for this :D
But it still doesn't capture the feel and sight!!! You have to see it for yourself one day!!!!!
Of course. It's on my list and I will achieve this goal one day! :D
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Wow, awesome photos and thanks for teaching me something today. It is truly the first time I've seen an event where fireworks are shot off during the day. Cool idea!
And experience one for yourself - none of the images and videos can describe how it actually feels!
After that exceptional and very loud spectacle... the closest people have to go to an otolaryngologist for an ear check up haven't they ? By the way I always like the quality of your photos
I've started to wear special ear protection which is frowned upon by the Valencians but I stood too many times to close to one of those street ones and seen over a hundred of those :) Need to protect my hearing :)
That's pretty cool how you were able to edit and bring out a completely different beauty. Great captures and the colored smoke reminded me of Guatemala Championship Soccer Game. There were so many colorful smoke bombs the whole entire game, you could hardly see. The excitement was off the charts and they celebrate like nobodies business. I loved being in the middle of all their celebrations which included fireworks. Nice work!
I love soccer game smoke bombs ... so much fun to photograph. Mascletas are incredible and fun too look at but bringing out their beauty, really shows what's going on.
Great photography. Really well done.
Thank you .. happy you liked them :)
That looks like SO much fun! I want to go to Valencia now!
You should .. and if you pan to come for Fallas book your accommodation asap. It gets VERY expensive.
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