Sevilla, España (Seville, Spain) - Festival in April

[Dennis G]

Hi, all,
Has anyone been to La Feria de Abril ?
Could use some local knowledge.
Thanks, / Dennis

[hugosalt]

My kids were there this past April. They said it was a huge festival (miles long). Women and little girls were dressed in flamanco dresses and the men dressed in suits or as Matadors. (Many people were dressed in casual clothing too). They were unable to go into any of the 'casaitas' (little private houses/tents) that lined the fairgrounds. They heard families purchase/rent these little houses for their own private use. You can see inside them from the street. There is much eating, drinking and dancing inside them. They found public areas that they described as a typical US fair but larger. There were rides, and a few carnival food stands (they couldn't find a beer). They didn't find a public 'casaita' but they hadn't researched it before they went to Seville. They stayed in a hostel and took a bus to the festival and followed all the people when they got off. Everyone was travelling there. They said their bus was full of people dressed in costume and singing. They had fun people watching and were amazed at the size. They only went at night. They had to take a cab back to their hostel since public transportation stopped before they left.

[anglooff]

Fantastic go for it if you can...It last weeks though so take care and as Hugosalt stated the private tents are for businesses and Families, but a little research before will provide you with a myriad of public possibilities. A lovely city too.

Regards

Alan

[Roaring Girl]

We went there in 2007, based on RG s anchored in the river at Gelves. It is bracketed by 2 other major festivals - the religious processions in Seville streets that go on throughout Holy Week, and the Gypsy pilgrimage to the holy village of El Rocio in the Donanas National Park. It's possible to spend a long time on the Atlantic coast of Andalucia!

The Feria is really in three parts. In the morning there's the bull fighting in the ring in Seville. This is the premier tournament in the country. We didn't go to that, but you can buy tickets if it's to your taste. Secondly, in the afternoon, people go to the Feria ground (just the other side of the river from the bull ring and enormous) and parade around in anything connected with horses that they can beg steal or borrow. This ranges from amazing four in hand open barouches to people on ponies. But all of them are swanked up to the nines, in beautiful harness and amazing outfits. Some women ride astride in Andalucian male costume - bowlers and beautifully cut jodpurs and boleros. Other women ride sitting sideways on the rump of the boyfriends horse, dressed in flouncy flamenco dresses and high heels. (We didn't see any men riding sidesaddle in large dresses.)

At about 2000, the horses leave and the streets of the fairground are hosed down - and the drinking begins. The main Feria ground (there is a traditional fun fair beside it), is this series of booths or cassettas - hundreds of them. As said, most of these are private, owned by little coops or big businesses, or families. You can watch them though, and much fantastic dancing happens therein. There are several large public cassettas too where you can buy food and drink and watch everyone promenading around.

The dancing is the peculiarly Sevillian flamenco that is lighthearted, noisy and allegedly easier. And everyone resident in Seville does it, as workplaces, communes etc all rain classes in the run up to Feria.

The night time sessions goes on till dawn.

There are tons of buses from all over the city that run continuously to the Feria ground, including from Gelves and all down that side of the river.

It's an absolute blast. We went to see the easter parades and Feria, which were practically back to back that year, and it took us a month to recover!

[dianasmith]

Seville fair is very spanish, you won't find that many non-spaniards around. Everything revolves around drinking and dancing.

Due to the time of year you can have anything from torrential rain to 35C and sunshine.

It really is worthwhile visiting though, and you can also see the cathedral, torre de oro, old town etc.

You can get there from the costa del sol on the AVE or you can fly into Seville aiport and either get a taxi into the city or you can move around the are a bit by using car hire at Seville Airport

If you want to know anything else, don't hesitate to ask!