A perfect day at the Feria of Seville
What is an ideal day at the feria of Seville like? The Feria de Sevilla is a typical Andalusian festival known worldwide. This spring festival is celebrated annually in the city of Seville, Andalusia, Spain. A complete city is recreated for a week, inside a large enclosure called “Real de la Feria”. This fairground has its own streets with more than 1,000 ephemeral huts. Every street is decorated with lanterns. Furthermore, there are constant parades of horsemen and horse-drawn carriages. Approximately 500,000 visitors attend every day.
The city is full of women dressed as flamencas (also known as Sevillanas) and men wearing suits. Seville becomes a parade of the latest trends in flamenco fashion. The end of this festival ends with an amazing show of fireworks that can be seen from all over the city of Seville. A magical evening indeed.
On this blog post, Nicholas Santos Noll, son of Stephanie Noll, describes what a perfect day in Feria of Seville feels like from the inside, as a local resident. Nic was brought up in Sotogrande and is currently attending Sevilla University.
For me, it’s a day that starts at around one o’clock in the afternoon at the caseta of my best friend with some tapas: ham, Spanish tortilla, manchego cheese, croquettes.. and of course Rebujito, the quintessential drink of the Feria of Seville, a mix of Manzanilla or Fino and seven-up. Meanwhile, the first carriages and horses begin their slow procession throughout the “Real” (fairground).
Friendship is the essence of the Feria of Seville
Afterwards, when everyone has had enough food to last a lifetime and the first “sevillanas” have been danced, it is time to visit the casetas, which are mostly private, of my friends. Notably, this is where the real magic of the feria begins. The friendships and alliances that are created with a jarra of rebujito (Jar of typical drink) are incredibly valuable both in your personal and professional life.
As the night draws nearer and nearer, the lanterns and the thousands of lightbulbs on the enormous Portada start to light up. At this point, the horses and the cars begin the retreat to the stables. Meanwhile the music bands assemble their equipment and begin their first batch of traditional sevillanas in their respective casetas.
A festival full of music, dancing and typical food at the Feria of Seville.
With so much dancing, the afternoon flies by and soon it’s time for dinner, which for the most part means going back to the family caseta. However, for many others the afternoon of rebujitos with friends has lengthened. Now as tradition marks, it’s up to the member’s turn to invite you to dinner. By the time dinner is over, the bands have stopped playing only sevillanas and go to all kinds of music. Now, the dancing intensifies at the Feria of Seville. The average age starts to descend especially around 2-3 a.m., but the night is far from over. In fact, for me the night does not end properly without going through the gypsy casetas on Manolo Vázquez Street. Plus, eating some traditional buñuelos with hot chocolate while, in the distance, the sun begins to appear.
Of course, for a perfect day you need to have contacts with members from different casetas. Although, this does not mean that people who are not from Seville can enjoy the Feria of Seville. Those who can afford to stay in one of the many luxury hotels in the city, will find that most offer bus services to transport them from the hotel to the Feria and back, at night. In addition, hotels have contacts with many casetas, making the first step to establish alliances and friendships with Sevillians much easier.■
