cremà

Cremà is the Valencian term for the burning ceremony that closes Las Fallas, the annual festival held in Valencia, Spain, and nearby towns. The event takes place on the night of 19 March (Saint Joseph's Day) into the early hours of 20 March, when the city's fallas monuments are set on fire. The burning is preceded by days of preparations: neighborhoods build large sculptures, called fallas, made of wood, cardboard, and papier-mâché, often satirical in theme; smaller figures, called ninots, accompany the main figure.

The main destruction occurs when fire is lit, usually after a display of fireworks and the ceremonial cremà of the fallas. Each neighborhood's falla is burned in sequence, culminating with the falla infantil for children on the same night. A ninot that has been chosen by public vote as ninot indultat is saved from the flames and placed in the Museo de las Fallas in Valencia.

Cremà has roots in the 18th- or 19th-century popular expression of guilds and craftsmen who displayed effigies during a spring festival; over time it became the central finale of Las Fallas. The event is recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2016 and is a major tourist and cultural attraction, though it requires strict safety and environmental measures to manage the fires and smoke. After the flames, the ashes are collected and the area is cleaned to prepare for the next year's festival.