A centuries old Spanish tradition will highlight an upcoming reunion at Calvin College.

On Saturday, July 19, at approximately 10 pm, Calvin alumni who have been part of the school's Semester in Spain program will gather to celebrate 20 years of the program with a giant bonfire.

But this will be no ordinary fire. It will be a celebration of "las fallas," a Spanish tradition in the region of Valencia, where the calvin Semester in Spain program is located. In Valencia the celebration is held from March 13-19 when Valencians, divided into different groups according to quarters or barrios and even streets, build creations of paper mache, wood and wax in the streets and burn them on the night of the feast of St. Joseph.

These figures, called "ninots" by the Valencians, are sometimes satirical and sometimes symbolic, but always striking in their beauty and detail. In fact they are usually the product of a year's worth of work and planning. And each year they are all torched in a dazzling display.

In Spain, notes Calvin Spanish professor Cynthia Slagter (above), the effigies are often huge, towering 20 to 30 feet above the ground. Calvin's falla will be more modest. Slagter and several alumni of the program have built a castle that stands about eight feet high. But, she says, burning it will still create a spectacular display.

Slagter expects about 150 alumni and spouses from the Semester in Spain program (Calvin's oldest off-campus program) to attend events at Calvin this weekend, including a dinner on Saturday at 7 pm and then the falla. Also attending will be the program's first-ever director and two professors from Spain who work with the program and will fly to Grand Rapids from Spain especially for the reunion this weekend.

The falla will be burned near Calvin's Knollcrest East apartments on a sand volleyball court at dusk.

For more on fallas see