Who knew?: Opening Day at the Feria de Abril de Seville

Feria de Abril de Seville:  since the 1840s where it began as a livestock fair, it follows Holy Week by two weeks, to allow for recovery from the holy week's excesses.  Sevillanos like to party.  We had planned to avoid the fair and its crowds and chaos, but reconsidered when a great apartment became available.  We were there only for the first five days; and this entry while long gives scant coverage of the event.

It's a huge event in Seville and surrounds, a time for the gentry to display their wealth and livestock, for the whole town to engage in a celebration of their heritage and to party hearty.  It begins with a horse and carriage competition in the city's huge bull-fighting ring, includes a week of bullfights (Spain's finest bulls and matadors and yep, we went to one), drinking and hanging out.  Museums close, horse-drawn carriages and taxis double in price, normalcy is out the window.  The city's alive and hopping til dawn.  And it's clearly of, for and by the locals; observers are tolerated, allowed, but not really included in the main elements of the party -- the casetas (more later), the parading, the dressing up.

The opening exhibition of horses, carriages, riders and drivers was phenomenal.  Andalusian horses are proud, tolerant, intelligent and beautiful, and the finest of the breed are trained, groomed for this life, inlcudng this annual event.

Braided tails.

Note the mantillas.  Carriage riders, grooms, were well-hydrated with hand delivered glasses of white wine while they waited to enter the ring.  Nothing for the horses.

These fancy blinders were popular, and disliked by the horses -- lots of head shaking and stamping, but no revolts.

Magnificent bearing. This was one of the few single-steed carriages.

There were occasional lady drivers.

Beautiful mane braiding.  And the lady groom/handler.

Folks lined the streets to watch the gentry and their finery parade by; tickets to the bull-ring exhibition were sold out.

And there were teams of well-matched, well-behaved, beautifully groomed and attired mules (above and below), and below right, the lovely riders and drivers, sometimes traditionally clad, sometimes not.

The fair itself takes place across the river in a huge dedicated space. We walked over at 9P for the midnight "grand opening". The grounds have two main sections:  the casetas and the midway.  The casetas are tents, actually more like home extensions, owned by the patrician, wealthy of the area and by some civic organizations; some are very big, others more intimate; many have wallpaper, pictures hung,lace curtains,  fresh flowers, and lots of staff.  There are over a thousand of these where partying, by invitation only, happens.  There are 15 public tents for commoners.  

Casetas, private parties.  Sometimes the front curtains were open allowing a view, sometimes not; some parties were more sedate, some in fuller progress than others.

Party hasn't started yet in this private caseta.

A hoi polloi tent.

The midway/amusement park section was bigger, better, noisier, fuller than anything I've ever seen.  Multiple sections included bumper cars, pony rides, merry go rounds, fun houses, swing rides, little kid rides, spook and fun houses, roller coasters, so much more.  Photos can't do this justice, although the panoramic at the top attempted to capture it.  We were there before the faire was officially opened, so few attendees yet.

This bullride was easily customizeable (see operator behind the girl on the right). It provided a gentle ride e to littler kids, and a wild one forolder ones.  To the right, selling local sherry; the mechanical guys on top stomped grapes.  Other versions of this idea included donkeys stomping grapes, ladies dancing on grapes, all mechanical, all with music.  We saw probably 20 of these stands at the fair.

The fair actually "opens" at midnight with the lighting of the decorative gate constructed specially for the event.  The gate's design is an annual competition, always modeled after a Sevillan landmark; this year's winner was of the Plaza Espana.  The tens of thousands of bulbs light slowly, to a wild cheer when complete.  PARTY!

The obligatory opening-of-the-fair photo.

We were leaving soon after midnight while thousands were just coming in; I've never been in such a crush.  

The daytime full-on faire is a spectacle of another sort, with the clothing and the whole parade-around-in-your-fabulous carriage thing, or your ride-your-amazing-steed-around thing.  To be continued . . .