March festivals part 2
For those who are willing to travel during the first month of spring, we’re continuing our list of major March festivals to keep in mind when planning a holiday.
Las Fallas – Valencia, Spain
This festival is quite possibly the wildest spring party festival that you’ll find in Europe, and that’s saying something for what is basically a very blown up and glorified puppet show.
That’s what ‘fallas’ are more or less, they are huge ‘sculptures’ made of papier-mâché on wood, built by local artists organized into teams.
Each falla is sponsored by individual neighborhoods, and usually there are more than 350 that get erected on the morning of 16th of March. Some of them reach up to fifteen meters in height can cost more than 350,000 Euros to build, all for the goal of satirizing celebrities, local customs or some other current affairs.
The festival actually starts on the 12th of March, but it only really gets going after the day the sculptures are erected, and after that you have four days to wander around and check them out while taking part in the non-stop festivities.
The festival concludes with a massive fireworks display and the burning of all the fallas.
Starkbierzeit – Strong Beer Time – Munich, Germany
Everyone’s pretty much heard of Oktoberfest, but we’re talking about a smaller yet similar festival. This festival doesn’t just celebrate old beer, but exclusively strong beer, it’s an opportunity for brewers to display and offer their strongest ales – all the beers paraded during the festival must have at least 7% alcohol content. The festival has its origins in the 17th century when the Paulaner monks brewed a thick doppelbock to help them get through their Lent fast.
If any of these sound interesting, keep some worldwide car hire services in mind for your transportation needs.
