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Every year, the festival of Abril
Feria (or April Fair) is celebrated
in the Andalusian capital of Seville
in Spain with much fanfare and enthusiasm.
Also known as the Seville Spring Fair
or Feria de abril de Sevilla, after
the name of the place, this celebration
takes place two weeks after the Easter
Holy Week or Semana Santa. The festival
usually begins on a Tuesday midnight
and continues for six days. Abril
Feria finally comes to an end on the
following Sunday.
Everyday the festivities begin at
mid-day with the parade of carriages
and riders. In these carriages, some
of Seville's leading citizens and
important persons are escorted to
the bullring (or the La Real Maestranza).
This is the place where the breeders
and bullfighters meet.
During this popular Spanish celebration
that usually takes place along the
long river bank of the Guadalquivir
River, a large number of casetas (decorated
marquee tents) are built on the fairground.
While some of these casetas are set
by one of the most well-known families
of Seville, some are built by a group
of friends, trade associates, political
parties or clubs. Though the Abril
Feria celebrations are held all along
the day, the real party begins at
nine every night and continues till
six or seven the next morning. During
this time, people dance, drink Jerez
sherry or manzanilla wine and eat
tapas, but everything takes place
within these casetas.
The Abril Feria was originally started
in the year 1847 as a livestock fair
by two councilors named Jose Maria
Ybarra and Narciso Bonaplata. After
getting the nod from Queen Isabel
II, the fair was finally held at a
place called Prado de San Sebastian,
situated on the outskirts of the city
on 18th April 1847. It didn't take
long but just one year for the fair
to be touched by an air of festivities.
In 1848, the first ever casetas for
Abril Feria were set by the Duke and
Duchess of Montpensier, the Town Hall
and the Casino of Seville. It was
only during the 1920s that the fair
became what it is today - a celebration
of humanity for the people and of
course by the people.
During the Abril Feria festival,
an important festival in Spain, men
and women deck themselves up with
the exquisite traditional fineries.
While men can be spotted wearing "traje
de corto" (tight trousers, short jackets
and boots), women can be seen in "faralaes"
or "trajes de flamenco" (a flamenco
style dress).
For more information on other festivals
and celebrations held in various countries,
please browse through the pages of
.
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