Seville Fair

__NOTOC__The Seville Spring Fair, "Feria de abril de Sevilla", is held in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain. The fair begins two weeks after the Semana Santa, or Easter Holy Week.

The fair officially begins at midnight on Tuesday, and runs six days, ending on the following Sunday. During past fairs, however, many activities have begun on the Saturday prior to the official opening. Each day the fiesta begins with the parade of carriages and riders, at midday, carrying Seville's leading citizens which make their way to the bullring, the La Real Maestranza, where the bullfighters and breeders meet.

For the duration of the fair, the fairgrounds, a vast area is on the far bank of the Guadalquivir River, are totally covered in rows of "casetas" (individual decorated marquee tents which are temporarily built on the fairground). Some of these casetas belong to the prominent families of Seville, some to groups of friends, clubs, trade associations or political parties. From around nine at night until six or seven the following morning, at first in the streets and later only within each caseta, you will find crowds partying and dancing "Sevillanas", drinking "Jerez" sherry, or "manzanilla" wine, and eating "tapas".

History

The Fair dates back to 1847 when it was originally organized as a livestock fair by two councillors, José María Ybarra and Narciso Bonaplata. Queen Isabel II agreed to the proposal, and on 18 April 1847 the first fair was held at the Prado de San Sebastian, on the outskirts of the city.

It took only one year before an air of festivity began to transform the fair, due mainly to the emergence of the first three casetas, belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier, the Town Hall, and the Casino of Seville. During the 1920s, the fair reached its peak and became the spectacle that it is today.

Costumes

Feria of Abril is accompanied by men and women dressed up in their finery, ideally the traditional "traje de corto" (short jacket, tight trousers and boots) for men and the "faralaes" or "trajes de flamenco" (flamenco style dress, see flamenco) for the women.

Future Fairs

Feria of Abril will begin each year at midnight on the following days:
*24 April 2006
*16 April 2007
*08 April 2008
*20 April 2009
*12 April 2010(Note these dates are highly probable, but the official date is not set by the city until December of the year before)

Image gallery

References & further reading

* [http://www.esflamenco.com/scripts/news/ennews.asp?frmIdPagina=508 The 2006 Feria de Abril (April Fair)]
* [http://www.cyberspain.com/life/seville.htm Feria de Abril]
* [http://www.andalucia.com/magazine/english/ed2/seville-feria.htm Andalucia.com]
* [http://www.exploreseville.com/events/feriadeabril.htm Exploreseville "Feria de Abril"]
* [http://kenybuey.blogspot.com/2008/04/las-mejores-fotos-de-la-feria-sevilla.html "Photos and Videos, Sevilla Fair 2007 and 2008. Feria de Abril de Sevilla"]
* [http://picasaweb.google.com/kenybuey/20080412FeriaSevillaLasMejoresFotos Photos Seville Fair 2008 "Feria de Abril"]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip3fWmBgajc Seville Fair 2008 video in Youtube]