Thursday Thirteen

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Thirteen Things about the Seville Spring Fair
Feria de Abril


01. It is one of the most known festivals in Spain.

02. The "Feria of Abril" has not always been considered such a time of festivity. It dates back to 1847 when two councillors requested permission from the Town Council of Seville to organize an agricultural livestock fair.

03. It didn't take too long before an air of festivity began to slowly transform the fair, mainly due to the emergence of the first three "casetas" (stands)

04. The casetas are made of brightly-coloured canvas and make up the basic element of the event.

05. Each caseta is distinctively decorated and it is like an individual party, there are chairs and tables inside where people sing, eat and drink while watching others dancing the local form of flamenco, the sevillanas. Each caseta has its own atmosphere and tradition and are hosted by groups of Seville families, clubs, trade unions and political parties, admitting only members of the organisation and their families, though most people practice "caseta-hopping", visiting friends and relatives in various casetas. There are a few public casetas, operated by the city council , for the benefit of people without any affiliations (tourists!)

06. There are more than one thousand! casetas distributed throughout the fifteen main streets.

07. Base camp for the Feria festivities is a temporary tent city, on the far side of the Guadalquivir River, called the Real de la Feria. This rectangular piece of land is about a mile long and 700 yards wide.

08. The Feria de Abril takes place every year, two weeks after Easter and lasts one week.

09. The festivities begin at noon every day with daily parades of horses and decorated carriages accompanied by strolling singers who play traditional Sevillana ballads on their guitars, dressed in the unique wide-brimmed "bolero" hats and short-cropped jackets that are closely associated with Andalusia.

10. What women wear: And just for fun, check out some flamenco fashion .


11. The Feria attracts top-notch matadors from all over Spain and the bullfights are considered to be the best of the season. The action takes place at 5:30pm every afternoon in the Plaza de Toros de Maestranza, which is considered one of the most beautiful bullrings in the country.
I will not comment on bullfights since I agree with this statement I saw as a graffitti: "if bullfight is art, then cannibalism is gastronomy"...

12. The party goes on until the break of dawn or later...schools are closed, offices work part-time, shops close at mid-day. Nap time is around 7 pm for this event!

13. Why am I telling all this? because I will be flying over there this coming saturday to visit friends and their casetas. It will be the third time I visit the Feria. I gathered information here for this TT! Happy Thursday!





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