A TRIP to Valencia during Las Fallas is like stepping into a magical fairytale world, complete with fire-breathing dragons, ogres and princesses dressed in exquisite gowns.

For anyone sampling this fiesta for the first time it will be unlike anything ever experienced before. I am certainly still filled with wonder and I’ve seen it several times. The city famous for oranges and fireworks becomes one big party and for five whole days you hear nothing but fireworks, processions and marching band music.

On 15th March streets are filled with elaborate wooden and papier mâché statues, some are beautiful, some comical, some political and others grotesque, but all are larger than life and brightly coloured. To anyone from outside, the most heartbreaking aspect is that they are all burnt on the last day of the fiesta, 19th March, San José (Saint Joseph).

The fiesta began as the carpenters honouring their patron saint, San José by burning the left-over wood of the neighbourhood. Today Las Fallas is worth millions of Euros and provides year-round employment for many, like the artists who create the fallas statues and the dress-makers who create the elegant outfits for the falleras, the women and girls in traditional Valencian dress.

Being a fallera is a serious business, much more than putting on a posh frock and it’s certainly not to be referred to as ‘fancy dress’. The cost of the gown alone, easily in the region of €6,000, is enough to make one weep, then there are the extras; the hair, the jewels, the undergarments, not to mention the annual fee paid to be a member of one of Valencia’s 355 fallas organisations. Each area of the city has its own Falla group which meets throughout the year but during the fiesta organises social events like dinners, fancy dress parties and paella competitions in the street.

Each Falla has a fallera mayor, if you like the Miss of their group, which is quite an honour but also a huge expense for the family, around €30,000 and double that if they then go on to be the fallera mayor of Valencia. For the chosen girl it really is like being a princess for a year, so, not surprisingly, is a dream for many young Valencian girls. My four sisters-in-law, however, were all told from the outset that they could be falleras but should never hope to be fallera mayor.

Dressing a fallera is rather like dressing a bride for her big day. The hair comes first; her own hair is gelled to the head and a bun is made at the back around which the plaits of bought hair are woven. This has to be real and of the same colour as the fallera´s hair. At the side more hair, twisted in circles rather like Princess Leia in Star Wars, is placed over the ears, leaving the fallera unable to hear clearly or speak easily on her mobile phone, which modern falleras keep in a special pocket in one of their many petticoats. Once the hair and makeup are done it’s time for the adornments; three gold hair combs are added along with matching necklace, earrings and broach, and finally the dress which, like a bride, the fallera has to be helped into. Strictly speaking the outfit is not a dress but a separate skirt, falda, and bodice, corpiño. Each ‘dress’ is tailor-made as are the shoes in matching fabric. The rule here is that if the bodice and skirt are different the shoes should match the bodice.

Given the cost of outfitting one’s daughter you might think that once bought the fallera dress would serve for several years, but you’d be wrong. Believe it or not the fashions for this ‘traditional’ dress change; a few years ago the fashion was for mid-calf length hems, now the skirts have to almost touch the ground. The sleeve styles and bodices have also changed and some Valencians complain that the current designs are more akin to something that would have been worn at the court of Marie Antoinette, rather than a Valencian peasant woman working in the rice fields. A cynic might say that the fabric manufacturers and fallera shops instigate these fashions to keep themselves in business.

Whatever the cost behind it all, a fully dressed and groomed fallera is a sight to behold and it doesn’t deter thousands of women from taking part year after year. During La Ofrenda, row upon row of beautiful falleras can be seen processing towards the Basilica de la Virgen where they leave flowers in honour of the virgin. An enormous robe of flowers is made from the bunches of red, white and pink carnations left in the Plaza de la Virgen. So charged with emotions are they that many of the falleras can be seen crying as they leave the Basilica.

But the tears are quickly dried and it’s out to party again or at least get round as many of the statues as possible. The fallas are classified in groups and judged according to their budget as they vary greatly in size. Always worth visiting is the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Last year’s theme was peace and the work included John Lennon, author of the song ‘Imagine’ and a sculpture of George W Bush and Bin Laden together wearing peace medallions. Imagine indeed. The winning falla of the past three years at Nou Campanar attracts visitors in their droves, so much so that metro lines get blocked and roads jammed as people try to catch a glimpse before it all goes up in smoke. Last year’s magnificent Asian-themed work (pictured) was no exception and cost a wapping €600,000

Any visit to Las Fallas would not be complete without experiencing Mascletá, an immense fireworks display in Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Not for those of a nervous disposition, they are set off daily at 2pm but to be able to get inside the Plaza you need to be there at least an hour beforehand. Each day a different group of Valencian pirotecnicas are in charge and although the displays take less than 10 minutes it’s well worth the wait.

As well as a huge fireworks display on the night of 18th March, nit del foc there are correfocs throughout the city. These are literally parades of fire where brave souls run through the sparks. On 19th March all the statues are burnt in La Cremà and plenty of tears are shed as the whole celebration comes to an end and the city is once again quiet, or at least less noisy for another year.