Starting on the 1st of March, a mascletà is held each day at 2:00PM in the city center, where the sounds of explosions are embraced. However, the true start to Las Fallas is on the 15th, when the falla communites are rushing to finish their monuments so that these might be judged on the 16th. This is also when the nightly firework shows begin, and continue up until the 18th, when the Nit del Foc concludes these firework presentations as the grand finale. The offering of flowers to the Virgen de los Desamparados, the patron saint of Valencia, occurs on the 17th and 18th when the Fallas commissions parade throughout the city until they reach the plaza. Las Fallas ends on the 19th with the cremàs, the burning of the monuments, that follow a schedule that ends in the center plaza at 11:00PM.
This is a complex tradition that even after experiencing and researching, is confusing to formulate an explanation. It originates from when local carpenters would burn their scraps of wood as an act of spring cleaning on the eve of Saint Joseph's Day, who is the patron saint of carpenters. With time, these heaps of wood slowly progressed into artistic fallas that now display scenes of criticized social behaviors. The pressure of competition between neighborhoods began in 1870 when the magazine, "La Traca", started nominating the best of the fallas. In 1901, the Town Hall of Valencia granted municipal prizes to the winners, which began the political influence in the festival.
