The April Fair - Seville

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Well, The Fair is without a doubt the party that makes Seville most famous outside of Spain, in the world at large!

What is the typical image of Spain abroad? Well of course, the bull and the woman dressed as a gypsy, which actually represents Andalusia more than Spain in general, but I'm here to tell you everything you want to know about the fair and its customs.

The famous April Fair, although it doesn't always fall in April, like what happened 2 years ago when it was already May, it lasts one week, or rather six days. It starts on Monday night which we call "el pescaito". It's at night when the streetlight, which is like a way of expressing that the fair has started. Normally, people meet up in their huts and eat fried fish and rebujito. For those who don't know, rebujito is an Andalusian drink, typical of the fairs, which is made mixing chamomile wine and sprite or 7up with loads of ice so that its well cooled.

The great Sevillian lovers of the Fair are usually dressed in a suit

jacket, and the ladies well, gypsy dresses. Unless they're riding on horseback, in which case, the guys must dress as flamingos and the ladies as amazons.

The Fair itself is situated in Los Remedios neighbourhood and we can get there from every part of Seville on the bus and metro.

By this time, the city council extends the bus service, including one which we call the shuttle. We must take whatever bus that stops for us in the Prado and there we can take the shuttle for a euro, which will leave at the fair's gate.

The other way of getting there is by metro, of which the route has three stops that will leave us at our destination, depending on what part of the fair we want to go to. The Parque de los Príncipes stop will leave us at the gate, the next one in the middle of the hut area, and the next one, on Calle del Infierno.

For those who know absolutely nothing about the Fair, its formed by a set of huts, some public and the majority private, and the Calle del Infierno, which is the street of all the attractions or cacharritos, as we call them in Seville.

The huts are structures of covered pipes of tarpaulin and adorned with green, white and orange lanterns. They normally have a small entrance or a little terrace, and inside they have the typical Sevillian tables and chairs painted by hand, and a kind of bar where we can eat typical Andalusian and Spanish food, maybe such as potato tortilla, fried peppers, a nice plate of ham, pork loin and cheese (I miss my homeland and its food hahaha), some choquitos, a marinade, puntillitas, serranitos... anyway, you eat pretty well. And all of this, of course, accompanied with a nice fresh rebujito.

What takes place for almost the whole day is eating, drinking and, of course, sevillanas dancing, the typical dance of the fair and Seville.

We can also go for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, which during fair season can go perfectly for about €100, but if you're a big group they can fit around 5 people, maybe 8 depending on the type of carriage, so its not so dear between everyone.

You can also ride in horse-drawn carriages outside of the fair through Seville eh, and they're a lot prettier.

More so at night we can go on an escapade on calle del infierno and have fun on the attractions like the crazy cars, the whip, the house of terror, the free fall...

Or we can stroll to see the atmosphere of the streets, those with names of famous Sevillian bullfighters, like José Gómez Ortega, " Joselito el Gallo ".

The typical flamenco or gypsy outift, as we commonly call it, can be short or large, can be more or less frilly, sleeveless with short maguita or long sleeve, with polka dots, with flowers... with a little shawl or without, it all depends on the fashion of each year. Furthermore, the outfit is accompanied by a hair flower, which can go on one side by the ear or above the head, as it has been worn over the last few years, also bracelets and a necklace, depending one's taste. If you wear a little shawl, it can be sewn into the outfit, with a knot or a pin. And then there are big manila shawls or woolen shawls to not get cold at night.

If some of you are wondering where do you keep things like your phone or purse... the outfits normally have a pocket with a zip or velcro under one of the frills or between the skirt and the lining. For those who have the outfit measured, you can ask the dressmaker to make a little bag with the same fabric as the outfit as well.

The week goes like that from arriving on Thursday and Friday, which are the busiest days; Finally, Sunday is a day when Sevillians usually don't go to the fair, to give way to all those who travel from all parts of Spain or abroad.

If you want to know more about it, take a look at this webpage.

Regards

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