Valencia

Batalla de Flors

Battala de las Flores / Battle of the Flowers

The highlight of the July festival, the 'Battle of the Flowers' was first held in 1891. This unusual event begins with a parade of horse-drawn floats, on which are perched falleras in traditional dress. The floats circle around a closed off section of the avenue four times, and prizes are awarded for the most beautiful float. Then the fun begins: mountains of softball-sized marigolds have been distributed around the ring, and seated audience members proceed to pelt the falleras with the flowers, who defend themselves with tennis rackets and hurl flowers back into the audience. After the parade, the general audience is allowed into the ring, and a general melee begins.

Last Sun of July: parade begins at 20:00, battle begins at 21:00·€30 (ringside seats purchased in advance), free (general audience)

Café del Duende

This café is an intimate venue for flamenco performances, with well-known dancers and musicians hailing not only from Valencia but from across Spain. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays performances begin at 23:00 and last for one hour; on Sunday they begin at 20:00. As shows are very popular, it is advisable to get there at least an hour before the show in order to secure a seat – getting to the door 15 minutes before opening is even better.

Thu 22:00-02:30, Fri Sat 22:00-03:30, Sun 17:00-23:00·€10 (includes drink)

Cines Babel

An art-house cinema which screens films in their original languages, including many current releases. The cinema has an adjoining café, and offers mid-week deals of dinner plus a movie for a reduced ticket price. All films VO.

Cridà

the 'call'

Crowds gather along bridges and the Túria river bed to hear the fallera mayor (principal fallera) announce the beginning of the Falles season at 20:00. Fireworks conclude the event.

Last Sun of February

Espai Rambleta

The cultural centre is a venue for music, theatre and dance performances, and hosts rotating temporary exhibits. It also has an onsite restaurant. Tickets for events can be purchased online.

Exhibitions: Tue-Thu 10:00-22:00, Fri-Sun 10:00-23:30; box office: Tue-Sun 10:00-14:00, 2 hrs before performance

Exposición del Ninot

Ninot exhibit

The current year's ninots are placed on display, with visitors voting for their favourite ninot. The winning ninot is spared the flames of the Cremà and added to the permanent collection of the Museu Faller de València (listed below).

1-14 March·€3 adults, €1.50 children and seniors

Festival Internacional del Viento

International Kite Festival

Held annually since 1997, the two-day event includes exhibits, kite-making demonstrations, and competitions.

April·Free

L'Ofrena

La Ofrenda / The Offering

The falleros and falleras from each 'casal faller' bring flowers in offering and used to decorate the mantle of an enormous effigy of the Virgen de los Desamparados in the Plaça de la Virgen. Participants are dressed in traditional clothing, and the processions follow two main routes, each terminating at the cathedral: one proceeds westward down Carrer de de Pau / Calle de la Paz, and the other northward up Carrer de Sant Vincent Màrtir / Calle San Vicente.

17-18 March

L’Hemisfèric

Designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatravato to resemble a giant eye, this building functions as an IMAX and 3D cinema as well as planetarium. Multiple films are screened daily, with a schedule available online. For visitors interested in seeing the inner workings of the building, guided tours are available M-F at 12.00 and 16.00 in Spanish and English. The building also has a restaurant and shop.

Ticket office: 10:00 until beginning of last film·Shows: €8.80 (adults), €6.85 (concessions); guided tour: €28

Mascletà

This is 120 kg of gunpowder translated into a multi-sensory ‘symphony of noise’, and must be experienced to be understood, as it includes not just the noise but also the intense smell of gunpowder as well as the vibrations which can be felt through the entire body. The event is very popular and you should arrive at least an hour in advance.

2-19 March: 14:00

Palau de la Música

Designed by José María de Paredes and opened in 1987, this is considered to be one of Europe's most important concert halls. The building is marked by an enormous glass greenhouse-like structure which also serves as the main entrance. In addition to classical music, jazz concerts are also performed here.

10:30-13:30, 17:30-21:00 (ticket office); tickets can also be purchased online

Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia

This opera/concert house has four halls and covers an area of 37,000m². A schedule of events can be found here.

Ticket office: Mon Wed Fri 10:00-14:30, opens again 3 hrs prior to performance; T Thu 10:00-19:00 or until performance; Sat Sun and holidays opens 2 hrs prior to performance

Plaça de Bous de València

Plaza de Toros de Valencia

A bullring and artistic monument, it is used for bull fighting and big shows. The stadium holds 12,884 people, and was built between 1850 and 1860 by Valencian architect Sebastián Monleón Estellés.

Teatre Olympia

Teatro Olympia / Olympia Theatre

Built in 1915 by Valencian architect Vicente Rodríguez Martín, the theatre is a venue for plays, musicals, and flamenco performances. Tickets can be purchased online.

Box office: daily 17:00-21:00, ½ hr before performance

Teatre Talia

Teatro Talía / Talía Theatre

The historic theatre was built in 1928 and mostly showcases local plays and actors, but is also occasionally a venue for dance and especially flamenco performances. Tickets can be purchased online.

Box office: Tue-Fri 18:00-21:00, Sat Sun 2 hr before every show

Teatro Principal

Valencia's oldest theatre was opened 1832 and has a Rococo interior. It is the venue for a varied program of plays and musicals (in Spanish), modern dance, ballet, and concerts.

Box office: Tue-Fri 11:00-13:00 17:00-20:00, Sat and holidays 17:00-20:00

Yelmo Cines

A modern cineplex which shows the latest blockbusters, with both dubbed and original language versions (VOS: versión original subtitulada).

Batalla de las Luces

Las Calles Iluminadas / Battle of the Lights

Casal fallers around the city decorate their streets with expensive street lighting displays, the most elaborate of which compete annually for the top prize. Three of the top contenders every year are in the Ruzafa district, with the fourth in La Roqueta.

11-18 March

Bullfighting

corrida de toros

Bullfights are staged in Valencia only during three short seasons, including Falles (mid-March), the Fira de Juliol (July Festival), and the Nou d’Octubre (Valencian National Day in October). If you are put off by bullfighting, consider attending a recortes competition, an ancient nonviolent alternative practiced only in the Valencian Community, Navarra, La Rioja, and northern Castile-La Mancha. Recortadores leap, perform backflips, and occasionally pole-vault over charging bulls. The bulls are unharmed and not killed afterward, but it is very dangerous for the athletes, who are often matadors-in-training. While these events are not as well-attended as bullfights, popularity is growing. Typically there is one recortes event during each bullfighting season.

Bullfights €12-120, recortes €10

Cavalcada del Foc

Cabalgata del Fuego / Fire Parade

A parade featuring all types of spectacles involving fire. This parade may be canceled in inclement weather.

19 March, 19:00

Cavalcada del Ninot

Ninot Parade

The ninots previously exhibited are now paraded through the streets, before being included in the falla monuments.

15 March

Els Castells

fireworks displays

A nightly fireworks display between midnight and 01:30, with each night more impressive than the previous one, until culminating in the final display on the 18th, which is known as La Nit del Foc (the Night of Fire). This is also very crowded and you should arrive early to see it. The best location to view this is from pedestrian bridges crossing the Turía Park riverbed, or even better, from below the Palacio de la Musica.

15-18 March

Els Focs de la Fira

Correfoc: literally 'fire-running'

This energetic festival began in medieval Catalonia and is celebrated throughout the Catalán/Valencian-speaking region. Participants dress as devils with pitchforks and dance through the streets to drums, setting off fireworks and interacting with spectators. The route varies from year to year, but generally is in the area near the North Train Station and the Porta de la Mar. The many flying sparks can burn holes in clothing, so it's a good idea to wear older clothes or not get too close to the action.

Festa del Corpus Christi

Fiesta de Corpus Christi

The city has been celebrating Corpus Christi since the late 13th century, and holding feast day processions since 1355. The main procession, known as the Cavalcada del Convit (Spanish: Cabalgata del Convite) begins at 12:00 and follows an itinerary established in the 18th century, which begins at Carrer de la Batlia, heads south along the western side of the cathedral to the Plaça de la Reina, and then up Carrer d'Avellanes and finally terminates at Plaça de l'Almoina. The parade features several medieval dances and rituals unique to Valencia, the most famous of which is La Moma i els Momos, in which a man in white dress and white-veiled face is surrounded by seven men clothed and veiled in black; the dance represents the fight of virtue against the seven deadly sins. Also noteworthy are the dances of the Nanos (dwarves) and Gegants (giants), in which dancers wear oversized heads and costumes respectively, and La Poalà, in which participants at the end of the route are doused with buckets of water. 16:30 marks the start of a second procession, the Pas de les Roques (Spanish: Paso de las Rocas, or Parade of Carriages), the highlight of which are the antique horse-drawn carriages. This parade follows a more circuitous route along Carrer dels Cavallers, Carrer de la Bosseria, Plaça del Mercat, Carrer de Sant Vicent Màrtir, Plaça de la Reina, and Carrer de les Avellanes before finally returning to the cathedral at Plaça de l'Almoina. A third procession begins at 17:30, with the same dancers featured in the 12:00 parade, and following the route of the carriage parade. The final procession, the Solemne Processó (Spanish: Solemne Procesión) begins at 19:00, with participants from parishes and guilds followed by biblical characters and finally by the monstrance.

60 days after Easter, usually late May or early June·Free

Festivitat Verge dels Desemparats

Festividad de la Virgen de los Desamparados, Festival of Our Lady of the Forsaken

The day is devoted to celebrating the Virgen de los Desamparados, Valencia's patron saint. After a formal mass at 08:00 in the Plaça de la Virgen, a ceremonial procession transfers the effigy of the Virgin from the royal chapel to the cathedral next door. A second traditional procession begins at 18:30, in which the effigy follows a more circuitous route around the city centre, accompanied by showers of flower petals and dancing in the streets. This procession proceeds along Carrer dels Cavallers, Carrer de la Bosseria, Plaça del Mercat, Carrer de Sant Vicent Màrtir, Plaça de la Reina, and Carrer de les Avellanes before finally returning to the cathedral at Plaça de l'Almoina.

Second Sun of May

Fira de Juliol

Feria de Julio / July Festival

Held annually since 1871, this month-long festival includes daily free and ticketed music and dance performances in parks and plazas, open-air cinema, sporting events, and fairground rides. Every Saturday at midnight there are large fireworks (locations vary). The mid-month Gran nit de juliol, always on a Saturday, features street parades and free outdoor concerts, and most museums remain open until midnight or 02:00. The tourist office can offer a detailed schedule of events.

1-31 July

La Cremà

The Burning

At the end of a week displaying the 'fallas' are burnt. The fallas infantiles are burned at 22:00, the fallas mayores are burned anytime between midnight and 01:00, and the falla at the Plaça Ayuntamiento is burned last at 01:00. The most impressive to see are the fallas in the Secció Especial, because these are the largest and most dramatic when they burn. These tend to be very crowded and one should arrive early, preferably an hour in advance. A good strategy is to visit a selection of fallas beforehand, and then to choose one to watch burn.

19 March: 22:00-01:00

La Despertà

the 'wake-up call'

Beginning at 07:30, brass bands parade down Carrer de la Pau and Carrer de Sant Vicent Màrtir to the Plaça de l'Ajuntament, followed by falleros and falleras throwing firecrackers. At noon more bands perform at the central square, and the season's first mascletà takes place at 14:00.

Last Sun of February

Nou d’Octubre

Diada Nacional del País Valencià / Valencian Community National Day

This annual public holiday has been celebrated since 1338 and commemorates the date in 1238 when King James I of Aragón entered the city, freeing it from Moorish rule. In the week leading up to the 9th there are free concerts and parades around town, including a correfoc ('fire-running') which takes place on the preceding Saturday evening in the El Carme district. During this same weekend nine governmental palaces which are ordinarily closed to the public are opened for general visitation (Sa and Su 10:00-20:00, free admission). Of these the 15th-century Gothic (Palacio de la Generalidad / Palace of the General Assembly) is the most remarkable, and is well worth the long queue to see the well-preserved interior. Formal festivities commence at midnight on 8 October with a fireworks display from the Túria River park by the Pont de l'Exposició (by Alameda metro station). At noon on the following day a formal procession carries the Valencian flag from the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) to the (Parque del Parterre / Parterre Park), where a wreath is laid before the equestrian statue of King James. The highlight of the 9th itself is the parade of Moros i Cristians (Spanish: Moros y Cristianos), which commences at and proceeds down Carrer de la Pau and Carrer de Sant Vicent, finally terminating at Plaça de l’Ajuntament. The parade starts at 18:30 but it is best to find a spot about a half-hour before the parade begins. The 9th of October is also the day of St. Dionysius, which for Valencians is similar to Valentine's Day. In a tradition dating to the 18th century, it is customary for men to give their sweethearts a mocadorà – a small bundle of marzipan treats shaped like fruits and wrapped in a handkerchief. Beginning a week before the 9th, these can be purchased at pastry shops and even some supermarkets.

1-9 October

Plantà

Planting

The 15th marks the start of the assembling the elaborate 'fallas', which have been laboured over during the previous year. Construction must be completed by 08:00 on 16 March, or the falla will be disqualified for the competition. Tourist information offices have free maps available showing locations of the Selección Especiál fallas.

15-16 March