Our evening at the Feria

As we were very busy during this week, apart from the opening ceremony we only went to see the Feria once (read some intriguing facts about the fiesta here). We were completely taken by surprise when we stepped onto the grounds. Yes, we have seen the horses, the carts and the flamenco dresses all over town however the concentration of so much colour was very overwhelming.

On the way there we met one of my students, Claudia, and her little sister, all dressed up and ready to party.

There were so many different variations of the traje de flamenco, I didn’t even know where to look! I especially liked when small children were dressed up (read more about the dress here). 

We even saw families where the mother and her little girl were wearing the same design. I was told that this is usually only possible when the dresses are made by a seamstress especially for them.

My favourite moment was when I saw two men riding on their horses all dressed up in their traditional traje corto or short suit with their babies in front of them in their saddle.

Soon we met up with our Spanish friends, Juan Ramón and Penélope, who was wearing a gorgeous flamenco dress. She even brought a lovely flower for my hair!

They took us to a private caseta where we had a jug of rebujito and some typical Feria food.

Being in a private caseta was a great experience. Even though it was very busy on the street, inside the tent it was calm and spacious. After dinner we went to the back to watch the people dance Sevillana, the dance of the city.

It seemed like everybody knew the steps, even the little ones.

Later (i.e. after a few more glasses of rebujito) Juan Ramón taught Paul how to do the palmas, the clapping part, and us girls danced Sevillana. Well, Penélope danced and I was desperately trying to follow her. It was not pretty but we had great fun!

We decided to do a little walk around and ended up in another, much bigger caseta!

We both had such a lovely time thanks to our Spanish friends. If you ever have a chance to go to the Feria, make sure you go with some Spanish people who can show you how to be fully part of this crazy fiesta.