Feria de Abril was something that everyone had been talking about since I started my internship experience here in Sevilla. “During Feria this... In the Feria that..” Actually they started to build up the Feria area for over two months before the actual happening! So I figured it’s probably quite a big party and when you think about it, party that lasts for a week is probably pretty big!
Feria de Abril is a weeklong festival, held in April as the name tells. It’s about eating and drinking good, wearing your best clothes: all the men wear suits and ties and all the women wear usually the flamenco dress. Also, EVERYBODY in the city participates the festival! For instance, if you walk in the city, everyone is dressed up! It’s unbelievable!
We decided to participate the party with the personnel from the company where I have my student placement the next day. Our company gave us interns shorter working days so that we could go to the Feria. On Wednesday, we interns headed out to change nice clothes and went to have a work lunch in the festival. It was really interesting and nice to see all that. The place was full of people, horses and tents.
Yes, tents. People can rent a tent for themselves for the week. Only the cost is at least 2000 euros for one! Not something that student who is doing internship can afford! Usually you can’t enter a tent, if you are not invited and that makes the tents really desirable for people to get. For those people, who don’t have access to any tent, there are public tents (where to buy food and drinks). Only the prize might get pretty high!
Also, there are a LOT of horses around. All the people bring their own horses from the country side and ride them in the festival. You can even buy a horse ride for yourself – if you have the money, because it costs 200 euros for one hour - another thing that interns probably cannot afford!
In the night time, the Feria area is lit by over 300,000 light bulbs. Actually the whole Feria area consumes as much energy as a city of 50,000 people. In addition to the tent area, there is an amusement park in the area! All this combined, lasting for a week, it is a big party!
I'm working, all week long,
I dream the days away,
I wanna... sing my song
so let the music play
I have to get my fix, and fly tonight
and when the clock strikes 6, on Fri-day Night
I need to blow it all away
I Can't wait.. for the weekend to begin...
Michael Gray - The Weekend