Hey, it's all there at the county fair

Surely at this point you must be wondering why I was able to travel for ten days in the middle of the semester when I already had a spring break. Did good-student Ramya skip classes? Never! In fact, I had no classes the week of April 19-23 due to something called the Feria de Abril, or simply Feria. So what is Feria, besides the reason for my second spring break?

How do I even begin to explain the city-wide, week-long spectacle that is Sevilla's Feria de Abril? Let's see...

If you're a Penn Stater: It's like the Blue and White carnival, except drinking is legal and people wear suits and dresses instead of t-shirts and shorts. It brings out the spirit of an entire city like an Ohio State game and people party like it's your average Thursday night in State College.

If you're Indian: It's as colorful as Holi, has more lights than Diwali, and involves a dance form with a specific sequence of steps like Garbha. Food is cooked in quantities only seen at Indian weddings and sold at prices reserved for foreigners in India.

If you don't fall into either of the above categories: I pity you. (Just kidding, but seriously, what were you thinking?)

A little history

"Ferias" (which simply means "fairs") actually began in the 12th century in cities all over Europe as annual markets where merchants from the surrounding areas would gather to sell their goods. To this day, many Spanish cities have ferias, although Sevilla's is celebrated on a scale unlike any other. (When Sevillanos do a festival, they don't mess around.) Sevilla's Feria de Abril began in 1847 as a livestock fair and took place at the Prado de San Sebastian, then on the outskirts of the city but now near the center. Over the years, Feria quickly became a festive occasion and the livestock stalls phased out. In 1957, the Feria grounds were moved to Los Remedios, the neighborhood in which I live and where it is still held today.

Feria 2010

Despite being sleep deprived and having a ton of work to catch up on, I spent all Sunday afternoon and evening at Feria and then went back at night to see some more. Considering I've never been much of a fair/carnival person before, that's saying something. Since it's such a photogenic holiday, I'll explain the various aspects of Feria through some of the hundred-plus pictures I took on Sunday.

The portada is the elaborate main entrance to the Feria grounds. Every year it's different and is dedicated to an important event or monument in the city. This year's portada commemorates the centennial anniversary of the first military plane taking off from Sevilla (see the model plane at the top) and NO8DO, Sevilla's motto.

In front of the portada

The main action of Feria (for most adults, anyway) takes place in the casetas, decorated marquee tents that line the streets of the fairgrounds. Casetas may be owned by individual families, organizations, political parties, or neighborhoods of Sevilla. To enter a private caseta you need to know someone who owns it, but the public casetas are open to everyone and have the same activities going on inside. All casetas follow the same layout: a seating area to eat and drink with some space to dance in the front, and a kitchen/bar in the back. The casetas sell the same food all day every day, with no distinction between meals. The casetas are well-decorated because it's a source of pride for the families who own them, and every year there's a contest for the best-decorated caseta.

Exterior of a public caseta. This one belongs to the neighborhood La Macarena, if I'm not mistaken.

Interior of a caseta

As mentioned earlier, everyone dresses up for Feria. (Even I took a break from my usual slob attire and seized the opportunity to dress up.) The majority of Sevillana women strut their stuff in Flamenco dresses, which are ridiculously colorful and ruffly and change with the fashions of the times. For instance, in the '80s, long puffy sleeves were in, but now sleeveless is the way to go. Flamenco dresses are loud and flirty and flattering and I absolutely love them. If they weren't so expensive (100 euros is considered a good deal and they go up to the thousands) I would have been rocking one too. Instead I had to settle for taking an obscene number of pictures of stangers' rear sides.

Spaniards frequently dress their children in matching outfits, and I find it adorable. When whole families wear matching Flamenco dresses, I just want to pinch their cheeks off!

Sevillanas is the typical dance of Feria. It's a variation of Flamenco dance with less stomping and more graceful hand-twirling. It's traditionally danced between a man and a woman, but often you'll see two women dancing together because more women know how to dance it than men.

Two women dancing Sevillanas in a caseta.

Bullfighting season in Sevilla kicks off during Feria. There are bullfights featuring the best toreros (bullfighters) every day during Feria. All the streets in the Feria grounds are named after famous toreros, and the backs of the street signs give brief biographies.

The entire week, the only form of transportation allowed in the Feria grounds is horse-drawn carriage. While there are plenty of horse-drawn carriages in Sevilla year-round, during Feria they become especially important. The horses are cleaned up and decked out, the drivers dress in fine suits and hats, and the prices are jacked up.

What's a festival without food? Much like at fairs in the U.S., deep-fried food plays a lead role at Feria, although I didn't see any deep-friend Oreos or ice cream for sale. In addition to the fried goodies, all the classic Spanish foods are made in mass quantities: paella, patatas bravas, tortilla espanola, and of course, jamon iberico. Spaniards also have a strange obsession with waffles (called gofres), which appear to come from a package rather than a waffle iron and are eaten with chocolate syrup instead of maple syrup. Oh, Spain...

Laura and I tried our very first churro relleno at Feria and fell in love at first bite. Churro relleno (n.): a deep-fried tube of dough filled with Nutella and served warm and oozy. Also known as heaven (or heart attack) on a plate.

Spain's pride and glory: ham and paella

By far the most precious picture I've taken all semester. This one's worth clicking on to see the full-size image.

Casetas full of dancing and drinking are only one half of the story. The other half of the huge Feria grounds is packed with rides and attractions typically found at amusement parks and carnivals. Haunted roller coasters, Ferris wheels, bumper cars, water rides, moonbounces, raffle games- you name it, Feria has it. There were even multiples of several rides like I'd never seen before. There's also a circus that you can buy tickets to and is very popular based on the long lines we saw outside it. The huge area where the rides are located is called "la calle del Infierno" ("the street from Hell") by locals, and it's not hard to tell why.

It looks like your average merry-go-round, but what you can't tell in this picture is that they're real live ponies! I would have eaten this up if I were a child in Sevilla.

Laura and I decided to ride "La Carcel" ("The Prison"), a ride in which you stand inside a "cell" which rotates around on the end of a giant stick. It's essentially like a Ferris wheel except you're standing freely in a cage instead of strapped into a seat. It doesn't go upside down or particularly fast, so we thought we could handle it, no problem. It was a blast and the view of the Feria grounds from the top was incredible, but I'm fairly certain I slammed into the poor little boy in our cell a few times and Laura came out with bruises. Here I am looking terrified, post-ride.

Feria at night is as awesome as in the daytime, but with the clear blue skies replaced by brilliant lights. Both are so beautiful and alive, I can't decide which I like better.

The portada lit up at night

Strings of lightbulbs hang above every street. I've heard that there are 30,000 lightbulbs in total.

Casetas in the foreground, "la calle del Infierno" looming in the background.

The whole thing ends with a fireworks display on Sunday (well, technically Monday) at midnight. Spaniards are usually known for running late, but this is one thing they're punctual about. While it wasn't the most impressive fireworks show I've even seen, fireworks are inherently impressive so I can't complain.

Conclusions: Feria is now tied with Holi and Navratri as my favorite holidays, and I made the right decision to study abroad in Sevilla in the spring.