Every year I wrestle with how to most effectively gather up and then spread before you the sights, sounds and experiences of Las Fallas in Valencia, and every year I recognize what a formidable challenge it is. There are a couple of reasons for this,* but the main one I’m struggling with today is that Las Fallas just has so many moving parts.

Since I began this post I’ve heard hundreds of explosions, and am now listening to the third marching band in the neighborhood, no doubt trailing after a few dozen Valencians in period costume making the rounds. They’re probably on their way to the Plaza de la Virgen, where the 350 neighborhoods in town send a floral offering, a process that takes two days. Part of each group bears an enormous arrangement on a palanquin, and each of the fallera princesses carries a posy of carnations that will…