School is out from December 22 to January 6, and the city fills with lights, Christmas markets and an ice rink. In Spain the big night for kids is January 5, when the Three Kings parade through town tossing candy, and the presents arrive the next morning. Here's what we checked, from the Kings' parade to kids' theater and rainy-day afternoons at the City of Arts and Sciences.
Expojove fills more than 50,000 square meters of Feria València with play zones, workshops, shows, magic, sports and live music. Kids climb, craft and try games, while the Military Emergency Unit and the security forces show how their work is done. It is the city's big indoor family outing between Christmas and New Year.
The Three Kings sail into València's port, then ride through the old town on ornate floats with their entourages, tossing candy to the crowd. They stop at a life-size nativity scene in front of City Hall to pay homage, then welcome children inside to hand over their letters in person.
The Three Kings set up one of their warehouses at Parc Central. Kids hand their letters to the royal pages, see how the gifts (and the coal) get prepared, and tour the Three Kings Factory. Over 5,000 m² of free space adds a carousel, mini golf, workshops and shows, and the Christmas tree lights up every evening.
Maria, a free-spirited young novice, leaves her convent to be governess to the seven von Trapp children in 1938 Salzburg. She wins them over with music while Austria edges toward annexation by Nazi Germany. Rodgers & Hammerstein's songs and big sets that run from the convent to the Alps carry the story. It suits school-age kids better than restless younger ones.
A musical comedy for the whole family. Peter Pan, the Mad Hatter and Gretel ask Merlin how to fix a climate gone haywire, then trick Captain Hook into sailing them to a faraway island. There they meet a sea witch, hypnotizing mermaids and Plastiferón, a monster made of ocean plastic. Kids from the audience join in as the ship's pirate crew, with original songs along the way.
Mia invents an invisible friend, Frida, to help with her fears. Years later, Mia has outgrown fantasy and turns invisible herself to dodge her problems. Then a forgotten imaginary friend turns up in her closet, and the two set off to find the kids who left them behind. Two actors share the stage with projected animation and a recorded voice cast.
A puppet ballet set to Debussy's piano score, played live on stage. A wooden soldier loves a doll, but she prefers the cheeky Polichinella, and the toy soldiers and puppets go to war. The doll nurses the wounded soldier, they marry and start a farm, and their children dance a polka to end it. Made by Valencia's Bambalina Teatre Practicable.
Every Christmas the Old Town shopkeepers' association turns Plaza del Ayuntamiento into an open-air ice rink, set under the City Hall clock tower beside the city's Christmas tree. Kids skate in short sessions with skates included, which suits first-timers who tire or get cold fast, and a parent can watch from the barrier with the plaza's lights all around.
The Museu de les Ciències fills Santiago Calatrava's long glass-ribbed hall at the City of Arts and Sciences with hands-on science. Kids walk through a forest of giant chromosomes, dance with their own on-screen avatars in the Bailar! exhibit, and join live demonstrations at the Science Theater.
Younger kids head for the Espai dels Xiquets, a play zone with mirrors, real animals and a toy building site to put together.
Santiago Calatrava designed this building as a giant eye. Inside is a spherical theater with a 900 m² concave screen and just over 300 seats, showing IMAX and fulldome films about space, dinosaurs and the natural world, some of them in 3D.
Two large pools around the shell reflect it to complete the eye shape. It sits at the heart of the City of Arts and Sciences, a short walk from the science museum.
Oceanogràfic is an aquarium spread across separate buildings in the City of Arts and Sciences, each recreating a marine ecosystem, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic. Kids walk through an underwater tunnel with sharks overhead (the park calls it Europe's longest), see Spain's only beluga whales, and watch the dolphin show.
A 4D cinema, a touch pool and a sea turtle rescue center are paid extras on top of entry.
Bioparc Valencia recreates four African landscapes: the savanna, the equatorial rainforest, the Kitum cave wetlands and the island of Madagascar. The habitats have no visible bars, so elephants, giraffes, gorillas and lions appear in open scenery. In the wetlands, kids watch hippos underwater, a view found nowhere else in Spain. On Madagascar, six lemur species roam free around the path. Keeper talks run through the day, included with entry.
About 35 artisans, many from Valencia and others from across Spain, sell handmade jewelry, ceramics, leather, textiles, glass and wooden toys from wooden booths. Live craft demonstrations and participatory workshops run alongside, organized by Arteval with the city government and the regional crafts center.
School is out from December 22 to January 6, and the city fills with lights, Christmas markets and an ice rink. In Spain the big night for kids is January 5, when the Three Kings parade through town tossing candy, and the presents arrive the next morning. Here's what we checked, from the Kings' parade to kids' theater and rainy-day afternoons at the City of Arts and Sciences.
Expojove fills more than 50,000 square meters of Feria València with play zones, workshops, shows, magic, sports and live music. Kids climb, craft and try games, while the Military Emergency Unit and the security forces show how their work is done. It is the city's big indoor family outing between Christmas and New Year.
The Three Kings sail into València's port, then ride through the old town on ornate floats with their entourages, tossing candy to the crowd. They stop at a life-size nativity scene in front of City Hall to pay homage, then welcome children inside to hand over their letters in person.
The Three Kings set up one of their warehouses at Parc Central. Kids hand their letters to the royal pages, see how the gifts (and the coal) get prepared, and tour the Three Kings Factory. Over 5,000 m² of free space adds a carousel, mini golf, workshops and shows, and the Christmas tree lights up every evening.
Maria, a free-spirited young novice, leaves her convent to be governess to the seven von Trapp children in 1938 Salzburg. She wins them over with music while Austria edges toward annexation by Nazi Germany. Rodgers & Hammerstein's songs and big sets that run from the convent to the Alps carry the story. It suits school-age kids better than restless younger ones.
A musical comedy for the whole family. Peter Pan, the Mad Hatter and Gretel ask Merlin how to fix a climate gone haywire, then trick Captain Hook into sailing them to a faraway island. There they meet a sea witch, hypnotizing mermaids and Plastiferón, a monster made of ocean plastic. Kids from the audience join in as the ship's pirate crew, with original songs along the way.
Mia invents an invisible friend, Frida, to help with her fears. Years later, Mia has outgrown fantasy and turns invisible herself to dodge her problems. Then a forgotten imaginary friend turns up in her closet, and the two set off to find the kids who left them behind. Two actors share the stage with projected animation and a recorded voice cast.
A puppet ballet set to Debussy's piano score, played live on stage. A wooden soldier loves a doll, but she prefers the cheeky Polichinella, and the toy soldiers and puppets go to war. The doll nurses the wounded soldier, they marry and start a farm, and their children dance a polka to end it. Made by Valencia's Bambalina Teatre Practicable.
Every Christmas the Old Town shopkeepers' association turns Plaza del Ayuntamiento into an open-air ice rink, set under the City Hall clock tower beside the city's Christmas tree. Kids skate in short sessions with skates included, which suits first-timers who tire or get cold fast, and a parent can watch from the barrier with the plaza's lights all around.
The Museu de les Ciències fills Santiago Calatrava's long glass-ribbed hall at the City of Arts and Sciences with hands-on science. Kids walk through a forest of giant chromosomes, dance with their own on-screen avatars in the Bailar! exhibit, and join live demonstrations at the Science Theater.
Younger kids head for the Espai dels Xiquets, a play zone with mirrors, real animals and a toy building site to put together.
Santiago Calatrava designed this building as a giant eye. Inside is a spherical theater with a 900 m² concave screen and just over 300 seats, showing IMAX and fulldome films about space, dinosaurs and the natural world, some of them in 3D.
Two large pools around the shell reflect it to complete the eye shape. It sits at the heart of the City of Arts and Sciences, a short walk from the science museum.
Oceanogràfic is an aquarium spread across separate buildings in the City of Arts and Sciences, each recreating a marine ecosystem, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic. Kids walk through an underwater tunnel with sharks overhead (the park calls it Europe's longest), see Spain's only beluga whales, and watch the dolphin show.
A 4D cinema, a touch pool and a sea turtle rescue center are paid extras on top of entry.
Bioparc Valencia recreates four African landscapes: the savanna, the equatorial rainforest, the Kitum cave wetlands and the island of Madagascar. The habitats have no visible bars, so elephants, giraffes, gorillas and lions appear in open scenery. In the wetlands, kids watch hippos underwater, a view found nowhere else in Spain. On Madagascar, six lemur species roam free around the path. Keeper talks run through the day, included with entry.
About 35 artisans, many from Valencia and others from across Spain, sell handmade jewelry, ceramics, leather, textiles, glass and wooden toys from wooden booths. Live craft demonstrations and participatory workshops run alongside, organized by Arteval with the city government and the regional crafts center.
