Viva la Feria de Sevilla: A week in the life of a local

It is hard to explain what the Feria de Sevilla is, but watching this video will help you get an idea. Essentially, the fair is an entire city built from scratch every year to be enjoyed to the fullest for just one week. Then, it vanishes like nothing ever happened until it comes back to life the following year. The colors, the dresses, horse carriages, rows of hanging lanterns and flamenco music last only for a week but stay in the hearts of everyone forever.

The first Feria dates back to 1846 when it was originally organized as livestock fair, much like the state fairs in the United States. The original fair started as just three buildings called casetas, which are small temporary houses where people sing, eat and dance. Today the fairgrounds are home to over 1100 casetas and occupies 24 blocks, 450,000 square meters and is located in one of the most well-known neighborhoods in Sevilla: Los Remedios. Attached to the fair, is a huge amusement park called “Calle del Infierno” aka: “Hell´s Street”.

Famous bullfights happen during the week of feria, and people wear their most fancy clothes, with women dressing in the typical flamenco dresses called ¨trajes de gitanas¨ (gypsy dresses) and the men wearing suits.

Enjoy some photos of CIEE students looking as Spanish as they can and we hope to see you just like them next spring!!