{"id":152,"date":"2020-05-27T18:14:23","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T18:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gavilansevilla.com\/en\/?p=152"},"modified":"2020-09-28T22:12:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T22:12:29","slug":"april-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gavilansevilla.com\/en\/april-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"April Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The festival of Seville<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the second big week of Seville, but here second doesn\u2019t mean less important, it\u2019s just due to its celebration is after Holy Week, specifically 1 or 2 weeks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is when, while the centre is quite, the fairground -called the El Real de la Feria<\/em>\u2013 comes alive and fills with the best atmosphere, light and colour of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fairs like these are found in almost all of the towns and cities but Seville\u2019s is the most famous and biggest in Spain.\u00a0It\u2019s the big spring festival, where the women dress in their flamenco dresses and the men go in jackets, horses go past and there is normally dancing, drinking, eating and enjoyment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Its origins date back to the 19th<\/sup> century as an animal market fair, started incidentally by a Basque and a Catalan businessmen.\u00a0During the buying and selling negotiations, singing nights and dances were held and taverns were set up. Nevertheless, over time, the commercial side was lost until it turned into an organised festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fairground is located in the neighbourhood of Los Remedios, a little further out from the centre of the city.\u00a0The entrance, called Portada<\/em>, is what attracts the most attention of the site, changing each year to represent a monument or aspect of Seville.\u00a0Once through the entrance, the most characteristic things are the casetas <\/em>or cabins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Casetas (cabins)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These are places where the life of the Feria is carried out.\u00a0Once inside, you drink, dance and eat.\u00a0 Although there is also dancing outside of them too.\u00a0The cabins aren\u2019t permanent structures, but they are put up and taken down each year.\u00a0However, it has to be taken into account that they are private, however there are public ones and one that is specifically for tourists.\u00a0Everyone has a cabin during the fair then? Clearly no, but it\u2019s certain that you know someone who does, or you know someone who knows someone who knows someone that has a cabin.\u00a0This is how Sevillian society works during the week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018Sevillanas\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fairground ends up being flooded by horse-drawn carriages (and of the undeniable smell of manure, although the city street cleaners go by constantly) and the streets are adorned with paper lanterns.\u00a0But, above all, what\u2019s heard all over the site is Sevillianas<\/em>.\u00a0This is a genre of music born in Seville and is now considered to be a distant type of flamenco.\u00a0The dance isn\u2019t easy, but to only see the dancing partners you arrive to the conclusion that it is one of the most beautiful and sensual regional dances that exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Flamenco dresses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of course, what gives the fair its unmistakable flair are the flamenco dresses, also called gitana dresses. Each one is different. With diverse colours, polka dots and patterns. It has the honour of being the only regional outfit that has different designs and that follows the trends.\u00a0But the dress isn\u2019t worn every day, to be precise, there\u2019s one day when it isn\u2019t worn and that is the Saturday of Pescaito <\/em>-fried fish-, meaning, the night when the fair opens.\u00a0On Saturday at midnight -well, now Sunday-, is when the week of the fair starts, by the turning on of the lights or \u2018alumbrao\u2019.\u00a0That night the people get together in their cabins to have dinner, elegantly dressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n