Nuevo de Octubre civic procession in Valencia. BIC
On 7 October 2016, the New October civic procession in Valencia was declared an Asset of Intangible Cultural Interest.
The New October festival is the day of the Valencian people. The day commemorates the conquest of Valencia, on October 9, 1238, by the troops of King James I. Although it was in 1239 when the historic Kingdom of Valencia was constituted as a practically independent political entity within the Crown of Aragon, in the eyes of medieval ancestors the date of October 9, 1238 was already presented as a symbol of the recovery of the Valencian lands and, Subsequently, it has been considered as the date of birth of the Valencian people.
The festival has been held in different periods with various symbolic reinterpretations, formal transformations and ideological instrumentalizations, although the fact of celebrating the founding date of the Valencian people and the exaltation of the collective identity of the Valencians of the Cape and Casal and the entire Kingdom has always been maintained as a background.
This is a civic portion that consists of the solemn descent with honors of ordinance through the balcony of the City Hall of the Royal flag of Valencia, which runs through the main streets of the city centre until it reaches Plaza de Alfonso el Magnánimo, where homage is paid to the figure of King James I, founder of the Kingdom of Valencia, and from where the passage to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento is returned, where the Royal Flag is hoisted to be kept again in the premises of the Municipal Historical Archive.