Why You Should Be Flying To Valencia This November To Be Shot With Fireworks
I’d like to kick things of on here by telling you why you should be excited to receive mild first degree burns from fireworks, running down small streets in the Valencia/Alicante region of Spain. Now for those of you that have carried on reading after the word “Burns” you are my type of person. There is an incredible festival that takes place in a few areas around Spain called the “Correfoc” which translates to The Fire-run. The Fire-run takes place in Valencia, Alicante, and Barcelona among other places around the month of November, dates do vary but are usually quite similar. I was fortunate enough to be in Alicante last year (2014) for the fire-run in old town Benidorm. Personally as a photographer the festival was an absolute feast for the eyes, here are my highlights and some of my favourite pictures from the night.
At the beginning of the night, around 1 hour before the fireworks are initially set off, there are multiple bands walking through different alley ways and narrow streets. The marching bands all have their own matching shirts with their logos from surrounding areas (Schools, Youth Groups, etc)
A big thing to take into account when attending this festival is that like many European countries Spain is still very alive into the late hours of the night. The first fireworks are launched at midnight, followed then by the literal fire-run, a chase through twisting, narrow european streets, being shot with fireworks, hailed with firecrackers and chased by a bull with fire spurting from its horns. All at around 1/2a.m in the morning.
Now although I do enjoy laughing at the tourists in shorts skipping and jumping in fear of singed leg hair, I do advise all of you to cover up well. When I was there I wore a denim jacket and black jeans so I was mainly covered, along with my DSLR protecting my face 70% of the time. Similar too me you may look around and think the locals covering up as much as they do is over-kill but as Liam Neeson stated in the A-Team film, “Overkill is Underrated”. WRAP UP. I enjoy laughing at the jumping tourists, but I wouldn’t want to see one of my readers being bandaged up by the medical team half way through the night.
The night is extremely fun and invigorating, and I do truly believe you should all take part if you ever have the chance. HOWEVER, be aware that both the Locals and the people operating the fireworks may of had a few cheeky drinks before hand. You will be pushed and shoved a lot, mostly into harms way, and the guys running around with the bull run VERY fast, Uncontrollably fast in fact. To my knowledge no one was seriously hurt during the night I was there, so don’t let it play on your mind too much, it is mostly safe.
An important thing to remember about the night is that, the local council/government agree to fronting a lot of this festival because it’s for the people, there are parties down every street, families eating outside, and everyone from the ages of 1–80 taking part in the fire-run itself. It’s an incredibly beautiful night and if you blend in enough you do truly feel like you’re part of a community. The fire-run in Old Town Benidorm ends near the old church at the top of the hill with flares going off above the heads of everyone there. The Benidorm Mayor joins the people to light the flares himself, with the old church covered in flowers from top to bottom.
THANK YOU FOR READING. If you liked any of my images remember to check me out on Instagram at www.instagram.com/verstomd
FINAL ADVICE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
The night can be very different if you’re there for work, or at least wanting to come out with a few images to upload to your own blog or instagram account. One thing is sure, you will definitely never be short of photo opportunity. Keep your eyes open and your camera turned on! When it comes to camera gear I was using my old kit which consists of the Canon 600d and a Tamron 17–50 f2.8 (Non-VC) due to my camera gear I didn’t want to push any higher than 3200 iso otherwise the noise was unbearable. I kept my camera in Aperture Priority due to constant lighting changes, and kept the aperture mainly at f2.8 because although there was constant lighting from the fireworks, it was still pitch black a majority of the time. If you are going to be shooting the whole night remember to take your eye away from your viewfinder for a couple of minutes just to take in the fact that you’re being chased down an alleyway by a dragon breathing fireworks and just enjoy the moment.
