Today’s post is by guest contributor Kim from Becoming Sevillana
During my year and a half in Seville, I have been trying to find out what it means to be Sevillana. Some aspects of my British roots are ingrained in me, such as the incessant need to apologise and give thanks unnecessarily, but like most Sevillanos I long for the festive season, for Semana Santa (Holy Week), and most importantly, la feria de abril.
As its name indicates, it is normally held in April, two weeks after Easter, which is later this year, making it fall in May (2nd-8th). It is a week-long celebration revolving around friends, family, eating and drinking. It is a sensory overload – of colour: women sporting their vibrant trajes de flamenca and funnily-named pinstriped casetas lining the streets – and music: the constant melody of sevillanas will definitely be an earworm by the end of the week.
Feria takes place in the Los Remedios area, to the west of the city. The real (feria site) is an impressive 450,000m², a vast space that sits empty for the remaining 51 weeks of the year. The land is divided into 15 streets named after bullfighting greats, and accommodates 1048 casetas – temporary marquee style establishments, where people meet, eat, get merry and of course dance sevillanas.
Continue reading “La Feria de Abril”