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Bookmark & shareThe week-long Fallas festival coincides with the first Sunday of March (St Joseph's Day) and is celebrated with the burning of the Fallas - tall wood and papier-mâché sculptures promoting the day of the carpenter. The lead up to the festival has fireworks and crackers erupting each day in the city's main square, the Plaza Ayuntamiento, gaining momentum as St Joseph's Day approaches. A young woman, known as the Fallera Mayor, is chosen each year to represent the city.
Semana Santa takes place in March, celebrating Holy Week in the suburb of La Malvarrosa with elaborate processions. The Fiesta de San Vicente Ferrer has colourful parades and miracle plays on the Sunday after Easter.
On the second Sunday in May, the effigy of the Virgen de los Desamparados, patron of the city, makes the short journey across the Plaza de la Virgen to the cathedral, hemmed in by fervent believers struggling to touch her.
In July, the Feria de Julio features a packed programme of performing arts, brass band competitions, free concerts, bullfights, a jazz festival, fireworks and a 'battle of the flowers' - when decorated, horse-drawn floats parade down the Paseo de la Alameda as their occupants and spectators pelt each other with tens of thousands of orange marigolds.
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