EXPERIENCE THE APRIL FAIR IN SEVILLE

The April Fair in Seville is one of the most internationally known Spanish festivals. For a whole week, Seville lives for the fair and paralyzing itself completely.

The booths are raised, the carriages are decorated with the best ornament, its horses and the coachman are dressed very elegant, both, Sevillian men and women put on their best suits and the city is full of colour, music and dance.

This event takes place during the third week after the celebration of Easter, and despite its name, it can be held in a different month.

Its origins date back to the Modern Age when the then Queen Isabel II determined that Seville would be the venue of a cattle fair with commercial nature and reserved exclusively for the Sevillian aristocracy and gentry. Currently, this fair has public access and it is installed in the neighbourhood of Los Remedios.

The essential elements in this Fair are all decorative: the street is lit with colourful lanterns and garlands. In addition, the sidewalks are covered with “albero” a kind of sand that is used in the bullrings, to recreate the atmosphere of bullfighting.

The Fair begins with “El Alumbrao” when thousands of light bulbs illuminate the door of the Fair and its streets. This door or cover reaches 50 meters high. Each year is different and is inspired by the most representative monuments of the city.

During the days of the Fair, you can see parades of horse-drawn carriages or horses with their riders, who are called “Andalusian gentlemen” due to the type of clothing that they use during these days (men use a short suit and women a gypsy costume or Sevillian costume). You can also enjoy the bulls, which are goaded by the most famous bullfighters each afternoon in the Plaza de la Real Maestranza.

Children, meanwhile, can have fun on the rides that are installed in the enclosure and remain the 7-day fair.

The problem arises with the booths, which are the places where the Sevillian people meet, drink rebujito (typical Andalusian alcoholic drink) and sing and dance. The access to these booths is private, so the tourist can only enter to the ones which access is public and these ones belong to political parties so, at the end, the tourists get bored.

Regardless of what it may seem, this Fair is not designed for tourists so MyHOSTpitality presents a guide with a series of very practical tips for overcoming your days in the Fair.

1. Inform yourself, before going there, about the history of the Fair, its origins, the tradition…

2. Book in advance a hotel or an apartment in the city because, if not, it will be much more expensive. From MyHOSTpitality a third option is proposed: exchange your language per accommodation. By this way, you will get free accommodation. To do so, just register on our platform and look for the ideal host in Seville among our candidates.

3. Before going, know which booths have public access. There are a total of 16 booths and you can know their location at the information points. Inside them, as we mentioned above, you can enjoy the music and the typical atmosphere of the April Fair.

4. You must know that there are two completely different environments at the Fair between morning and night. Morning Fair is plagued by older people, parades of carriages and riders while at Night Fair as the carriages stop running at 8, is plagued by young people who will enjoy the night inside the booths

5. Use comfortable shoes and choose the ones that you don’t appreciate too much. As I said before, the streets of the enclosure are covered with “albero, so the shoes will be filled with dirt and dust.

6. Park the car away from the enclosure because, during those days, circulation in Seville is impossible, so it is best to use public transport.

7. One way to integrate into Seville environment is to buy or rent the typical costume, but if you do not want do not worry, there is another option which consists of adding some typical detail to the dress code: either a comb, a carnation in the hair, some big earrings …

And with all these tips… ¡enjoy these days in one of the hottest cities in Spain!