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Seville Feria (La Feria de Abril) is in full swing. Technically, this is not a fab Friday find. Just go with it! :-). The city of Seville is having a big old party, and everyone is invited. After the holy week of Semana Santa, Sevillanos in the capital of Andalusia, dust off their finest flamenco dresses and suits and head for the Seville Feria.
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We went to the Feria yesterday to check it out. Wow! what amazing colors. From the grand gate that is constructed yearly with it’s thousands of lights to the Andalusian horses drawing the carriages (most of whom are also dressed up). Thousands of numbered casetas (tents) are set up by various groups and organizations to entertain their members.
A lot of them are privately owned, with family members celebrating together. Loud music is the norm. These casetas are usually manned by guards to discourage uninvited guests. They are quite the hot ticket from what l gather.
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Your main goal in life, well at least for the week is to be invited into one of the casetas. I looked in plenty, but truthfully, l didn’t see what the big deal was. The only good thing l could see was that you had a place to sit, and probably didn’t have to wait too long for a drink. You are also fed, but l would expect that considering you have to pay for it :-). Shade is a good thing though, as it was quite hot!
We met up with Ryan and Ang, bloggers from Seville, and Adam, who was visiting from Berlin. Trying to get into one of the few public casetas to get a drink was pretty futile, as they were all packed! We opted to walk around, take pictures, and admire the scenery. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me the headcount was over a million that afternoon.
The party goes on all week, and according to Ang, the average Sevillano gets approximately eight hours of sleep the whole week! The whole frigging week! I get cranky if l don’t get 8 hours a night :-). Old age l guess!!!
The grand finale will be on the 26th, complete with fireworks. It was nice to be able to enjoy the Seville Feria with no distractions, unlike our first Feria in Malaga. One thing we are skipping for sure is the bullfight. We can’t stomach another one. I’m sure the night time is a different experience than the daytime, less kids, more liquor 🙂
Have you ever been to a Feria? Did you like it? If not, do you think you would like the Seville Feria?
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This sure looks way better than the Malaga feria. I couldn’t believe it when you said that the huge, colorful gate, is built specifically for this occasion – it’s quite impressive! And I am sure you’re glad to be a bit away from all the noise – I couldn’t stand sleeping just several hours the whole week!
Yeah! Imagine, they build a new gate every year, and it’s lit with like 2 million lights or something close to that. Basically, they build a whole new village every year with the casetas. There’s talk of moving it to an even bigger space, as more than 2 million people visit. It is definitely more..way more than the Malaga one. Glad l’m not the only one who needs sleep 🙂
I LOVE the costumes and the colors. I might be able to take one day of that, but you said two words that I usually stay away from when put together: hot and crowded. Maybe all the siestas they take all year lead up to this one huge event so they don’t have to worry about sleep!
Yep! Pretty colorful. I think l will get myself an outfit for next year :-). You might just be right about the siestas..hah hah! It would totally make sense. It was hot, and it was definitely crowded. We found some solace under a coca-cola umbrella for a while.
Love the photos and so great to meet you!! Keep in touch xx
Thanks Adam! It was great meeting you too. Will keep in touch for sure :-).
Oooh, Latin ladies in tight dresses – me I like 🙂
Looks like a good time Kemkem,
Frank (bbqboy)
What??? you like that? O am so surprised.. 🙂 :-). It was a good time. Next year, l will be one of those ladies in the tight dress! I won’t be Latin, but l will in my outfit! 🙂
It’s great to see the difference between the feria in Seville vs. Malaga. They both look like so much fun. Is the feria done city-by-city, or do cities all around Spain host a feria at the same time? One thing’s for sure, I definitely want to experience a feria for myself, and I definitely want to cone home with a flamenco dress!
Seville’s is huge. I think it’s the biggest one. There are thousands of those casetas. It’s a whole village within the city itself. Each city does it a different time of the year. The women go all out with those outfits, and some people can spend thousands on euros on an outfit. I plan on having it made in Naija 🙂