All's Feria in April and Sevilla

The Feria de Sevilla, also known as: the Feria de Abril, (although it's not always in April) or just plain 'Feria', generally takes place two weeks after Semana Santa. It is an annual celebration that began as a livestock fair (the original idea of two Northern Spaniards). It's different now: the focus has switched to drinking, dancing and dressing up. It has become quite a big deal, especially in Sevilla. Schools in the city of Sevilla actually close for part of the feria week. I think this is either because A. there are too many tourists and people in the city during this week to have a normal school week or B. because everyone is at Feria until the wee hours of the morning and too tired to go to work or school rendering it pointless to even have class. At any rate, it is a big deal.

Construction for the Feria 2012 began back in December of 2011. Since I lived fairly close to the Feria grounds in Sevilla (about six tenths of a mile) and it was on one of my running routes, I had the pleasure of seeing it being constructed (and later dismantled). A city holds its Feria on a specially designated plot of land (much like the State Fairs we have in the US). In some cities the land holds permanent shelters for the event. In others, like Sevilla and Alcalá, the casetas (tents/stalls/little houses) are set up and taken down just for the event by the city (the people that own the casetas pay a yearly dues to the city for this service. From what I've heard about it, it's quite spendy; it's almost like a second mortgage. Though the cost of the caseta is almost always split between several people). The workers began assembling the metal frames of each of the casetas first, then slowly the main entrance (la portada) went up, and then came all the lights and decorations. I wish I had a 'before and after' photo of the feria grounds. The transformation is amazing. The 'before' would be a large, flat, empty golden-soiled plot of land. The 'after' would be row upon row upon row of colorful tents, round lights and rows of these hanging overhead:

The general public needs several months to prepare for the feria too. The women have to think about their dress well in advance. As with any fashion, trajes de flamenca styles change every year. If you want a new dress, you have to either find one or, to make sure it is unique, have one made just for you: fabric, style and fit. As you can imagine, it can get quite spendy. You can find dresses upwards of 700€. And some people have more than one dress for the feria. It is, after all, six days long. You can't wear the same clothes for six days (especially if it's hot out).

I really wanted to get my own dress, but I was on a budget. I found a nice one for about 300€ ($390) at El Corte Inglés. Two of my Spanish friends drove me to a few places to try on dresses and give their expert opinions. I had champagne tastes and a beer budget, but after just a few stores, I tried this one on and I loved it. It was the traditional red, had polka dots and had lots of 'volantes'. I was so excited that I had found one. I remember talking to my dad the night after I bought it and telling him that I bought a dress for Feria. I said, 'It is white with red polka dots and lots of ruffles.' He thought I was joking.

A few minor hems had to be stitched up, so while I waited a week for those repairs, I focused on gathering the necessary (matching) accessories. This part is almost as hard as choosing the dress. You have to choose the color scheme you want. Since I had a red dress I could have gone with green, purple, red or white. I went with red. I got red earrings, beaded necklace, shawl, a pin to keep the shawl in place, a peineta, and a flower. I was ready for Feria (I already had shoes from last year, but shoes are another very important item).

This year, Feria in Sevilla officially started on Tuesday, April 24th at 12:01 AM. Those that have a caseta were there on the previous Saturday and Sunday, eating the official pre-feria fried fish dinner. But for those that don't have a caseta, the feria started with the lighting of the portada (the main entrance).

The portada by day.

La Portada- modeled after the front of the church of San Salvador in Sevilla.

This first night of the Feria, not many people dress up. They save that for the next few days. The busiest day is Thursday (if I remember correctly.). The weekend is considered the touristy/pueblo days. Most of the Sevillana population goes to the Feria during the week and leaves the other days to the 'outsiders'.  I went to the Feria on Tuesday to see the lighting and then again on Wednesday and Friday. The thing about the Sevilla Feria is that it is one of the most popular Ferias in the country. It is also one of the most private. There are a few public tents (casetas), but the majority are privately owned. This means that you have to know people to get in. If you don't, you'll have to find a public tent or just walk around outside. It's a completely different experience when you know someone. This year my friends and former English students from the language school got me in. Not only that, but they helped me look as Sevillana as possible.

These friends had also spent the previous two Wednesdays giving me a crash course in Sevillana (flamenco dancing) (well, one Sevillana, with four different phases). Maria Antonia was actually a professional flamenco dancer back in the day. I didn't do too badly in class, considering it has been awhile since I've been in dance. But I only learned the foot moves. The arm movements add another dimension of difficulty. When it came to the Feria, I got up on the 'tablao' only once to show off my moves. I got stage fright and couldn't remember a thing. I need to go back and take more classes.

The food of the Feria

We went to a few casetas talking, eating and drinking (and dancing that one time). I think I walked (the mile) home at around 2 or 3 AM. I was tired and walking up to the fourth floor was quite a chore, especially in such a big dress. Although my friends warned me to lift up my dress so I didn't rip it, I took a step up, put my foot down and heard a ripping sound. Oh, well, I thought, I won't need the dress again anyway. Little did I know that I'd be going back on Friday in the dress (with Katie). Unfortunately that day we couldn't get any of our contacts to answer their phones and get us in to a caseta, so we ended up walking home after just a few hours of walking around.

Then, on Sunday, we walked to Parque María Luisa to see the closing ceremony fireworks. Much to our surprise, they lit them from the side of the river, very, very close to where we were standing.

Even the Police stopped to enjoy the show.

So the Sevilla Feria was over for the year, but there were other upcoming fairs in other towns. I ended up going to three more, and all were quite different. I went to the feria in Jerez (de la Frontera), where all the casetas were public and fewer people dressed up in the traditional dresses than in Sevilla.

Salmorejo at the Feria in Jerez.

My fellow Jerez Feria-goers.

The Jerez Feria

I went to the feria in Córdoba at the end of May. It was a good-sized feria and since it took place later in the year, there were fans, spraying water and sometimes even AIR CONDITIONING in the casetas! I took the train from Sevilla to Córdoba and my friends met my there. María Jose is from the Córdoba area, so she knew the good casetas at the feria.

Me and María Jose.

Pulpo a la Gallega

Serranito- pork, ham and green pepper sandwich

I also went to the Feria in San Jose de la Rinconada. I went with three (preschool) teachers from the school in Alcalá del Río the Thursday of that feria (the first week in June). The casetas at this feria were also all public and since it was a small town it was quite a bit smaller feria. They were also much more spacious than those in Sevilla. We had a few rebujitos (the official drink of the feria- manzanilla and sprite) and left around midnight. I remember they were concerned about the shrill voices that awaited them the next morning.

That was the last feria I went to for the year, although the season was far from over. You could go to a feria somewhere in Spain or Andalucía even, every week clear through to October. Then there is a one month break before it's time to start building Sevilla's feria for 2013.

Another Feria de Sevilla 2012 ad.