LA FERIA: It's a fair?

...that was my first thought on Monday, when I went to see the alumbrado (at midnight, when they light up the portada, main gate, and the rows and rows of lanterns at Feria). And yes, folks, as the name would appear, la Feria is indeed a fair, Spanish-style.

Half of the fair grounds are taken up by by the usual: rides, fair food and expensive, hard-to-win games in which you may be able to walk away with a large, stuffed-animal pig which you won't know what to do with the next day. Their Ferris wheel is the fastest one I've ever been on. And the other rides looked much too rickety to be trusted. The students with pulled muscles and stitches can attest to the fact that they may not be too secure. But then again, the girls in flamenco dresses even survived them so, this is just a warning: enter at your own risk. An interesting variation to the typical Viking Boat we have in the States--the long boat swinging like a pendulum--is that in addition to the rows of seats, there are "jail cells" at either end. The seating was empty because everyone wanted to be standing up, not buckled in, jostled around amongst ruffles of dresses and limbs, flying around in the cages on the ends of the 'boat.'

3 AM and the night life of Feria is just getting started. This area was the usual State Fair-esque part, full of sugary friend foods and useless knick knacks.

The other half of Feria--what I found to be the

Here's a glimpse at the hustle and bustle of a public caseta: I preferred las privadas.

better half--and the original reason for its existence is las casetas. This area is a mini-community of little party tents. [No, I have never seen or heard of anything like this before. Perhaps something comparable, yet more wild and less classy, would be an area of a college town with a bunch of frat houses. Exit one house, enter the next one down, and keep on partying. Then again, that might give you the wrong impression.] This section of cobblestone streets and tightly-packed sandy sidewalks is cluttered in rows and rows of tents, covered in cheerfully colorful, striped materials. Each caseta is erected on a rented plot of land in a designated part of Sevilla used yearly for Feria, has a wooden floor, chairs and tables inside, a bar and food, room to dance and a group of friends or business associates there around the clock, ready to greet their invited guests. There are two types of casetas: public and private. The majority are private casetas, which means invite only. I was fortunate enough to make a friend in bachata class that invited me to his caseta. He explained that it was as if I were invited to his home. This translated to: I merely show up and immediately am handed enough food and drinks to prepare for hours of fun. The food? Delicious Spanish staples, like revuelto Rociero and carne mechada. The drinks? Rebujitos, rebujitos, rebujitos. A blend of manzanilla sherry and 7UP, it's a refreshing drink for the hot, dusty days and long, busy nights.


As unique as one half of the Feria is from the other, the days and nights are even more radically different. Day time boasts men on horseback in their flat, circular brimmed hats and tight, short coats and boots. Women, ages 0 to 80, are in flamenco dresses all day and all night. Parties of people are carted by in horse-drawn carriages, arriving from the streets of Sevilla to la Feria in style. The atmosphere during the day makes you feel as if you've been transported to Spain's past. Strolling around one afternoon, hazardously dodging death by horse carriage, I stopped by "our" caseta with two friends from Hillsdale, as I said, "just to say hi." Three hours, two plates of food and two pitchers of rebujitos later, we left.

I took many a photo, because thousands of words are required to give even a very simple interpretion of Feria. As my friend here said--and I whole-heartedly agree--it's just something you have to experience. I would recommend somehow getting an in to a private caseta though. There was no other reason I stayed out 'til three or four AM except to dance sevillanas with my new and old friends, in a pleasant, cozy atmosphere. Yes, I did that for multiple nights in a row and my body is still annoyed with me. My brain isn't quite functioning up to par right now either: today was a very warm day and at seven PM, it dawned on me I had good reason to lament, for not only had I worn black jeans and a black top, I put on wool socks this morning. I have no idea why.

More to come on the wonderful, crazy week that was la Feria de Sevilla.