Founded in 1846, the Fería de abril (April Fair) was originally set up as a livestock show, however, it transformed the following year into a festival with 19 casestas (tents/booths). This year, there are over a thousand casetas!
The festivities begin with the Alumbrao in which all the lights are turned on at midnight. The fair is arranged to look like an old town, and the ground is covered in the same yellow sand you see in bullrings. (The streets are also named after legendary bullfighters.) The entrance is marked by La portada which is a lit-up monument commemorating a different building in Seville each year. This year it was Hotel Alfonso XIII (where I had previously indulged in a cocktail, in true Fería-spirit).
Make sure you go into a public casetas (unless invited by a Sevillano to a private one) to dance, eat traditional pescaíto frito (fried fish), and drink rebujito (manzanilla (sherry) mixed with 7Up (fizzy drink)). The party starts at 1.30pm and goes into the early mornings. The six-day Fería ends with a fireworks display over the Guadalquivir river.
Prepare to be amazed at all the different flamenco dresses, their colours, patterns, frills…I’d recommend dressing up as nice as you can for this week as even the horses are complete with braids and bells. And it’s not just at the Fería, the people throughout the whole of Seville are decked out in flowery hair pieces and navy suits. We visited two public casestas; the first had more of a modern atmosphere with reggaeton and young people, while the other which served tapas and had flamenco dancers.
In addition to the Fería, we caught up with another Aussie Aux based in Seville as well as a British Aux from Vélez and his Dad, for dinner.
As this was my second visit to Seville, I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the Real Alcázar (where I took more time to wander the gardens), and the Plaza de España (three times).
I also visited the Torre de Oro for the first time. There was a donation upon entry and a good view of Seville form the top, but essentially, it just a small naval museum.
We stayed at Oasis Hostel Palace which I’d highly recommend as it had a kitchen, lounge room, bar, and pool!
I also caught up with another Aussie Aux based in Huelva and even met a bunch of the other teachers working there.
Getting back to Torre proved to be a bit difficult as my train from Seville experienced technical issues, so we had to change, and I only just made the last bus of the night!
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