The most colorful party in the world
Light, color and lots of joy. Seville turns every year to its April Fair, the fair of all fairs, a microcosm where the idiosyncrasy of a city unfolds with all its charm and all its power of seduction.
Entering a world of sensations
The Feria de Abril de Sevilla begins on the night of the «alumbrao», the inaugural moment when the lights of the fairgrounds are turned on. Also tonight the traditional «pescaíto frito» (fried fish) is tasted in the «casetas». After a week of constant partying, the Fair concludes with a great fireworks display along the Guadalquivir River.
The Feria is like a small and decorated city. An ephemeral world where the houses are casetas, the lighting is achieved with lanterns and all the streets are named after legendary bullfighters.
A city with its cover
Each year a monumental entrance gate is erected to commemorate a monument of the city of Seville. The cover is illuminated with thousands of light bulbs, and remains a regular meeting place for Sevillians.
Life in a week
We can say that there is a particular calendar feriante. There are people in Seville who live the «alumbrao night» as if it were the «New Year’s Eve». The lighting of the cover is somehow another year, a new year full of illusions and emotions that develop in a dazzling way in that week. Something as if life were concentrated in one week.
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The floor of the streets is covered with albero, yellowish earth, from the neighboring town of Alcalá de Guadaira. This is the sand traditionally used in the gardens of Seville and in the bullrings.
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The Fair is illuminated along its streets with thousands of bulbs covered with «farolillos» (kind of spherical screens of folded paper).
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In 1846 a Catalan and a Basque were the founders of the Seville Fair.
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The flamenco dress was consecrated in Seville after the 1929 Exhibition.
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Manzanilla is the wine of the Fair, 1.5 million half bottles are consumed.
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The unique style of the booths was conceived by the painter Gustavo Bacarisas.
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The April Fair has 450,000 square meters and 1,052 booths.
