Last year around this time, I wrote a post about the Feria
of Sevilla. My last sentence was “Hope I can be back here for next year’s!” Well,
what do you know my wish came true.
Another feria come and gone.
Rebujitos, casetas, trajes de flamenca and Sevillanas. Dashing men (and women)
riding on horseback. Go with old friends, leave with new ones. A temporary tent
city with streets named after famous bullfighters, carnival rides and fried
dough, dancing until the sun comes up.
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| mapa del real de la feria or the fair grounds |
Each year in April, two weeks
after Easter Sunday, the people of Sevilla celebrate the arrival of spring
(this year is felt more like summer) with this huge fair. Many towns and cities
around Spain have similar celebrations throughout the year, but Sevilla has
come to be one of the biggest and most well-known of them all.
I’ve gathered some information
over my two years as to how and why the feria tradition began. Not sure if this
is accurate but here’s what I’ve learned.
The idea was proposed by a
Catalan and a Basque who suggested to the city council in the mid 1800s that three
days in April be dedicated to the selling and trading of livestock and crops.
At first, the feria was held in a small park with something like 20 casetas
(tents). Over the years it gained fame and success (now there are over 1000
casetas), and the feria had to move to a bigger space. In the 1920s, the feria
started to change into what it is now: a small city within the boarders of
Sevilla that springs up for a week in April and becomes a temporary home for Sevillanos
to dance and sing and eat and drink. Still not clear on why/when feria became an event dedicated to partying rather than to commerce and trade.
The feria begins on a Monday
night with a dinner called “el pescaíto”, andaluz for “fried fish”. The dinner
does involved lots of fried fish, but also your typical Spanish noshes: jamón, queso, olives
etc. This dinner is only for members of the casetas (all other days of feria
members can invite guests into their little tent homes). At midnight on the
first night, there is a ceremonial turning on of all the lights known as “el
alumbrao”, andaluz for “the lighting or the illumination”. Right at midnight,
all the lights around the feria are turned on, including the lights of the
portada, the entranceway into the fair. There are over 350,000 light bulbs used
to light the place up at night.
Every year the portada is inspired
by an important event, monument or building in the city. Last year it was based
on the facade of El Salvador Church in Sevilla.
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| the real church |
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| Portada 2012 |
This year it was loosely inspired
by Plaza de España, although the dimensions aren’t accurate (the two towers are
not actually joined by a bridge).
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| the real Plaza España |
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| Portada 2013 |
This feria I decided to get into
the spirit a little bit more than I did last year by buying my very own traje
de flamenca. Many women in Sevilla acquire a new dress for every feria, for those
who can’t afford it, every couple of years. It is not so difficult to find
someone who has so many to spare that they are willing to lend one out for a
feria season. The problem is that these dresses are very tailored to one’s body,
so unless you find someone who is your exact body twin, it is hard to borrow a
dress. Plus, I think of it as a great souvenir for the future. In an ideal
world I would have liked to design a dress for myself, which many Spanish women
do, but since I cannot afford to spend €400+ on a single article of clothing, I
bought a “predesigned” dress from a store. Of course when you buy from a
regular store you run the risk of being seen in the same traje as someone else!
HORROR! And I did actually see a couple of people wearing the same one as me,
but given that I am a guiri (foreigner), I didn’t mind. Here is a photo of me in my dress.
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| me and my ladies before feria day 3, i believe |
For me an important part of the
feria is the attraction park called “Calle del Infierno”, or Hell Street. I
think my childhood must have been lacking in town fairs because of the
excitement I feel when I am there, or maybe I just love going on rides. This
time around I only went on two rides because I was just having so much fun at
the “adult feria”. Also, it is really hard to sit down in a flamenco dress so I
had to dress differently on the day I wanted to visit the rides. I went on one
incredible ride called the Inverter that does just what it says, inverts. It is
a two minute adrenaline pumping experience in which you are turned upside down,
backward and sideways so many times that by the end of the ride its hard to
tell which way is up. It was awesome. I also rode the Ferris wheel, which is
not usually my first choice when it comes to rides but my friends outvoted me.
It was actually a pretty fast moving Ferris wheel so it wasn’t as boring as Ferris
wheels usually are. And from the top there was an amazing view of the entire
fair ground. Since I went at night all you can see are the lanterns that line
the streets of the feria and mark the location of each caseta. It was quite impressionante.
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| view from the top of the Ferris Wheel |
So, feria round two, mission
accomplished. Although I am sad because this is probably the last time I will
be at Feria de Abril for a long time, I think I went out with a bang. I attended
every night of the Feria, including the alumbrado the first night. I danced
Sevillanas (or my awkward at dancing version of it), wore a typical traje de
flamenca, drank rebujitos, went on a few rides, got churros and chocolate for
breakfast one morning at 7am before going to sleep for “the night”, and even
got invited to a “disco-caseta” by a member of one the bands.
I also learned that I have a
hidden musical talent. The “instrument” is called cañas and it is basically two bamboo
sticks that have to be hit together at a certain beat. It is typical in the
feria to see people tapping on cañas to the rhythm of sevillanas.
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| caña(s) |
So, thank you feria for being
such an amazing experience, again. For now, I’m trying to look forward to other
events in the near future to get out of my post feria depression. All good
things must come to an end, right??
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| FIN |
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