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BETSA MARSH/Travel Arts Syndicate (ENLARGE)

The Isabel la Catolica-Cirilino Amoros fallas catches fire for its finale March 19, St. JosephÕs Day, eve of the vernal equinox. The monumental caricatures are envisioned, funded and erected by ValenciaÕs 378 falla commissions (neighborhood clubs).

Valencia, Spain — A giant papier-mâché wizard, centerpiece of a four-story bonfire, suddenly whooshes up into the Valencian midnight sky, close enough to scorch my eyebrows. Yet no one races to call the fire department — a firefighter started this inferno.

Across this Spanish city, 377 other bonfires are flaming on this night, March 19, St. Joseph's Day and eve of the vernal equinox. Thousands of airbrushed caricatures in papier-mâché and Styrofoam are blazing to their deaths to clear the symbolic way for spring and another 364 days of planning and preparation in the annual obsession called Fallas.

Fallas (pronounced FYE as) is an explosive mix of pageantry and pyromania, with pagan, commercial and religious sparks igniting one of Europe's largest festivals. More than a half-million visitors crowd Valencia's medieval streets and modern boulevards to eat, drink and warm to the primal thrill of fire.

Pyrotechnic spectacle

Fallas is "fires," and that's a literal translation from the first firecracker to the fiery finale, Cremà, on the night of March 19. Across this city of 800,000, streets close, schools empty and every child past diapers pops firecaps on the sidewalks and flings firecrackers. One lad about 8 straddled his sizzling firecracker like the Colossus of Rhodes, proud hands on hips, until the blast sent him scrambling, clutching his smoldering pants.

Is it any wonder, then, that the parents grow into world-class pyrotechnicians, tattooing the midnight sky over Paseo de la Alameda?

From March 1 to 19, sprawling Plaza del Ayuntamiento explodes at 2 p.m. in the mascletà, a combination of giant, rhythmic firecrackers and traditional colored fireworks. Pyrotechnicians beat out an explosive tattoo — one afternoon, a little Mozart Nachtmusik segues into Brazilian batucada drumbeats as the plaza fills with smoke. Thousands pack the square and lean over Valencia's filigreed balconies.

Non-Spaniards may puzzle over the concept of red and green fireworks at 2 o'clock in a climate that sparkles with 300 sunny days a year.

"It's like sweet bacon," offered journalist Moises Dominguez, a Fallas expert. "Or honor and politics." An oxymoron.

Most people don't try to figure it out, instead enjoying the rhythm of mascletà, the cadence that builds to Fallas' fiery climax.

But the blast, in every sense of the word, doesn't stop there. The party snakes back into Old Town alleys for impromptu songfests and fireworks. Fallas is no place for travelers with sleep disorders or heart conditions.

Locals disdain earplugs, saying it's best to just open your mouth wide to equalize the explosive pressures. Trust me, pack earplugs — and spares.

The origin of Fallas

How did Fallas start? The legend is that carpenters in Valencia's busy woodworking shops wanted to clear up for spring, burning scraps just before the feast day of their patron saint, Joseph. Three centuries later, Fallas has 378 monuments erected in squares around the city. These steroid-size cartoons satirize politicians, modern life — nearly anything is fair game. They make their ribald comments until they go up in smoke March 19.

The monuments are envisioned, funded and erected by the city's falla commissions, neighborhood clubs that offer entertainment and fellowship from cradle to grave. The 378 falla clubs hire artists to create their monuments in secrecy, finally "planting" their first falla element on its square March 5. Each day, more is revealed until the final touches at midnight March 15.

Competition is red-hot, with some clubs spending up to $600,000 to win a banner and about $22,000 in prize money. Once the fallas constructions are nothing but smoke and ash, bragging rights are all that remain.

It's the rare obsessive who sees all 378 monuments in four days. But it's fun to try, fueled by jolts of espresso and pumpkin fritter (buñuelo) on the go. Or, grab a seat in the 200-year-old Horchateria de Santa Catalina for pastry (farton) dipped in hot chocolate thick as pudding. If the vernal equinox has spiked temperatures, sip a glass of orxata, a sugary drink brewed from the tiger nut legume. Like the rice dish paella, orxata, reminiscent of sweetened coconut milk, is a leftover from Spain's 700-year Arab occupation.

The Arabs also brought mulberry trees and silkworms, the foundation of Valencia's fabulous 14th-century wealth. Textiles are still Valencia's largest industry after furniture, and its shops glisten with gossamer lace and brilliant brocades — much of it $60 a yard and up.

Elaborate dresses, jewelry

A Fallas dress, cut in an 18th-century Valencian style, can cost $1,700 to $12,000. Of course, the elaborate hairpieces, combs, drop earrings and necklaces are extra. When a phalanx of Fallas women sashays past, it's like tumbling headfirst into a kaleidoscope.

Costume expenses escalate for the young women and girls chosen as queens and members of their courts for the individual falla committees; it's similar to the queens and courts of Mardi Gras krewes. The royal pinnacle is to be crowned Fallera Mayor de Valencia and her junior counterpart, Fallera Mayor Infantil de Valencia.

As they progress through the streets, some Valencians break the 18th-century mood with cigarettes and cellphones, but most march to their falla bands with dignity. It's fun to catch one falla commission passing the bullring on Calle Xativa as its musicians play "YMCA" and everyone, in elegant gowns and breeches, does the Village People gestures.

Entire families belong to the clubs and participate in Fallas — 12 percent of Valencia's 800,000 residents, at last count. They spent nearly $40 million on monuments, clothes, shoes, flowers, food and drink in 2006. Visitors spend millions more to experience one of the world's largest festivals.

But Fallas is not all fireworks and firewater. It has its solemn, religious moments. Falla commissions march from all over the city toward the Plaza de la Virgen, bearing floral offerings to Our Lady of the Forsaken, the patroness saint of Valencia. A super-size armature of the Virgin and Christ Child awaits them, built with wooden slats to receive thousands of bouquets. Hour by hour, volunteers clamber over the giant rungs, slotting in blossoms by color to create the saint's robes.

Parading through the streets

In their falla formations, Valencians wend through the cobble streets of Europe's largest Old Town, bringing flowers and monetary gifts. The procession continues for seven hours March 17 and 18, from 4 p.m. until long after dark. As they enter the plaza, many of the women are so overcome by the sight of the towering Virgin and Child that they weep unreservedly.

The statue, of course, is not burned, and flowers that overflow the square go to the ill and housebound. And one other element escapes the flames each year: the character (ninot) that receives the most votes from the public.

Each falla commission creates an extra figure from its monument for the competition, at the Nuevo Centro shopping center. This is often the best place to appreciate the intricate sculpting, painting and outrageous humor that go into these pieces. The winner joins more than 70 years of other spared ninots in the Fallas Museum.

It's sweet, of course, that one character lives past March 19. But whatever the ninot's future veneration in the halls of the Fallas Museum, it can't touch the flashes of glory that consume its brethren on the squares of Valencia.

Betsa Marsh, author of "The Eccentric Traveler: A World of Curious Adventures," is a winner of a Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers.

IF YOU GO

Getting there

Expect to pay at least $600 round-trip airfare from Atlanta to Valencia for travel in March.

About Fallas

Fallas is celebrated March 1-19, culminating with St. Joseph Day and Cremà (burning) as the midnight finale.

Some key dates of Fallas:

• Feb. 4-March 15: Anthological Exhibition of the Fallas Festival by the Guild of Fallas Artists at the Nuevo Centro shopping center. Pay a few dollars, tour the hundreds of ninot characters, and vote for your favorite to be spared the flames.

• March 1-19: Mascletà, fireworks and firecrackers display, 2 p.m. daily in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

• March 5-19: "Planting" of the fallas in their squares. Kibitzers are welcome to watch giant cranes lift the segments into place, then applaud and cheer.

• March 11: Ninot Parade, with the individual characters up for public voting. One will be saved from the flames and enshrined in the Fallas Museum.

• March 15: "Planting" of the children's fallas. Each club has children's activities year-round and sponsors a juvenile fallas entry.

• March 15: Midnight fireworks in the Paseo de la Alameda.

• March 17: The flower offerings to Our Lady of the Forsaken at the Plaza de la Virgen.

• March 18: Night of Fire (Nit del Foc) fireworks display in the Paseo de la Alameda.

• March 19: Mass in honor of St. Joseph in the Gothic Valencia Cathedral, with the Fallas Queen and Children's Queen and their courts of honor. The fire parade sets the evening's theme, followed by the burning of the children's fallas, then the winner of the children's special category. The adult fallas are torched, then the fireworks shift to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento at 1 a.m. The City Hall falla is always the last to burn.

Many restaurants and hotels book quickly, so reserve as early as possible.

This is not the place for a rental car — the medieval streets in Old Town are tortuous, and most routes are blocked at the height of the festival. The Manises-Valencia Airport is about fivemiles away, and the North train station is in the city center.

Information

Valencia: 312-642-1992; www.turisvalencia.es. Fallas: www.fallasfromvalencia.com.