Falleras leaving the square after bringing flowers - Ofrenda de Flores - Fallas Valencia

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Here you can find quick answers to all of your questions. Linked, you’ll find the articles or the sections of the articles that can give you more detailed information.

: The Ofrenda de Flores is a flower offering to honour the patron saint of Valencia, the Virgin of the Forsaken. For two days, falleros and falleras parade all over the city’s streets in their traditional dresses. Each of them carries flowers that will end up decorating a huge statue of the Virgin, located in Plaça de la Mare de Déu.
: The parade for the Ofrenda de Flores takes place every year on the 17th and 18th of March, starting at 3:30 pm and ending at around 1:00 am. To see the falleras and falleros arrive at the square, we suggest you get there after dinner.

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: The massive statue of the Virgin that is going to be covered in flowers is in Plaza de la Virgen (also known as Plaça de la Mare de Déu), in front of the Basilica de la Virgen de los Desamparados. To get there, the committees usually follow two routes. If you’d like to know more about the routes, you can have a look at the relevant section of this article.
: Yes, it is religious at its core - it is an offering to honour the Virgin of the Forsaken. However, many people simply go in the spirit of tradition and to enjoy the atmosphere of joy and great emotion.
: No, even though there are a number of Christian-adjecent traditions - like the Ofrenda itself. In fact its origins can arguably be considered pagan.
: The point of the Ofrenda is to honour the patron saint of Valencia - the Virgin of the Forsaken - and to ask her for a good end to the Fallas.
: Each Fallas committee belonging to the Junta Central Fallera participates.
: Yes, every year each Fallas committee is assigned a time and route to walk for their offering to the Virgin. This ensures a beautiful procession over the course of two days in Valencia. If you’d like to know more about the routes, check out the relevant section of this article.
: The vestidors (or vestidores, in Spanish) are the men and women who volunteer every year to design and execute the Virgin’s mantle. There are about 50 of them, of all ages between 16 and 60 years old.

If you’d like to know more about them, check out the relevant section of this article.
: The clavariesas are the ladies dressed in black who follow the saints’ statues in processions. You can still see them today all over Spain during religious events. Although they are often credited with starting the Ofrenda’s tradition, it seems like it was a Fallera Mayor who first offered the flowers on Saint Joseph’s day.
: The design, which is kept secret until the last minute, is usually representative of the year that just passed. If you’d like to know more about the hidden message in the Virgin’s mantle, you can check out the relevant section of this article.
: The vestidors are in charge of designing the motif and arranging the flowers on the Virgin’s mantle every year.

If you’d like to know more about the design, check out the relevant section of this article.
: Every year, around 50,000 bouquets are used to decorate the Virgin’s mantle. That’s about 17 tonnes of flowers.
: Yes, the flowers used are normally carnations (the most popular colours are red and white, but other colours can be used too). This is because of their durability and shape.

If you’d like to know more about the types of flowers used and how the colours are assigned to each group, you can read the relevant section of this article.