This year, the annual cultural festival Las Fallas celebrates its 10th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As spring arrives in Valencia, the city enters its most intense cultural period of the year, with new art experiences and reopened historic buildings. Here are some of the city's biggest cultural highlights this spring.
During a few intense months in spring, the city's traditions, art scene and cultural heritage come together in a program that attracts both international visitors and local audiences. From large-scale folk festivals to new art productions and restored historical environments, the season is characterized by a clear combination of history and contemporary.
– Valencia enters its most vibrant cultural period in the spring, when the city's traditions, art scene and cultural heritage can be experienced side by side – this year with a special focus on the Las Fallas anniversary and new cultural initiatives, says Paula Llobet, president of Visit Valencia.
Las Fallas marks ten years as a World Heritage Site
Las Fallas is a folk festival with roots in centuries-old traditions, where city districts build large, satirical and artistically designed sculptures – known as fallas – which are exhibited in public spaces. The festival was included on UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016. This year it celebrates its tenth anniversary as a world heritage site. The celebrations started on 6 February with the Ninot exhibition, where individual figures from this year’s fallas are displayed and the public votes on which entries should be saved from the flames. The Las Fallas celebrations then continue until 19 March. From 15–19 March, the city districts are filled with magnificent sculptures, fireworks and music. The finale, La Cremà, involves the burning of the artworks in a traditional ceremony.
Bombas Gens – industrial history meets contemporary art
In recent years, Valencia has strengthened its position as a city for experiential art, where digital technology and scenography are used to create spatial wholes rather than traditional exhibitions. Several new initiatives have emerged focusing on art that engages multiple senses and allows the audience to move through stories and environments.
One of the clearest examples of Valencia’s commitment to experiential art is Bombas Gens, a former 1930s industrial complex that has been transformed into a cultural center. The listed building is one of the city’s finest examples of Valencian Art Deco architecture and now houses contemporary art and major digital productions.
In 2026, exhibitions with themes such as Titanic and Frida Kahlo will be presented. Through projections, sound and scenographic environments, visitors are guided through different rooms and stories. The ambition is to create holistic experiences where art, technology and stories interact.
According to the press release.
Restored Baroque in the Iglesia de los Santos Juanes
Meanwhile, the Iglesia de los Santos Juanes, located next to the city's central market hall, has reopened after extensive restoration. The church is considered one of Valencia's most important Baroque monuments and has undergone several years of work to secure and restore its interior. The ceiling frescoes, gilded details and sculpted reliefs have been cleaned and preserved, allowing the church space to be experienced with greater clarity than before. The restoration means that a central cultural heritage site is once again fully accessible to both residents and visitors.
The Holy Grail and new visitor center
Valencia has been the traditional home of the Holy Grail since the 15th century. The chalice, believed to have been used at the Last Supper, is now housed in Valencia Cathedral and has been a part of the city's history since 1424.
As part of the Holy Year 2025–2026, a new visitor center has opened in the historic Almudín building. The center provides an introduction to the historical and religious significance of the Grail and its connection to Valencia. It also serves as the starting point for the Ruta del Santo Cáliz thematic walking route, which leads through several of the city's central cultural environments. During the anniversary year, exhibitions and cultural programs related to the Grail will also be organized.
Flights from Scandinavia
There are direct flights to Valencia with Ryanair from Stockholm and with Norwegian from Copenhagen and Oslo between April and October. Flight times are around 3–4 hours depending on the departure point. There are also connecting flights all year round with SAS and KLM, among others. There is also a high-speed train between Barcelona and Valencia which takes around two hours.
