SEVILLE’S FABULOUS APRIL FAIR IS BACK — BUT IN MAY!

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24 Apr, 2022
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SEVILLE’S FABULOUS APRIL FAIR IS BACK — BUT IN MAY!

The Fair’s portada illuminated with great fanfare at midnight on the 1st of May

 

by Muriel Feiner
Photos: M. Feiner

 

2022 finally promises to offer a regular bullfight season after the tragic era of the pandemic. The season began with the traditional Valdemorillo fair in February and was followed by a very soggy Fallas Fair in Valencia and in Castellón. Now the next major event on the calendar is the Feria de Sevilla.

The April Fair is one of the most internationally popular festivals in Spain. Created in 1847 in the Prado de San Sebastián as a livestock fair, over the years it became more of a festive event which gained extraordinary fame worldwide due to its unique color, splendor, pageantry, equestrian displays, classic horse-drawn carriages and flamenco dancing at all hours and in all places. It attracted many celebrities from all over, from Grace Kelly to Jackie Kennedy, who donned the traditional garb to ride through the fairgrounds and attend the bullfights.

On the other side of the river, where hundreds of casetas (colorfully decorated and comfortable tents) are set up in the fairgrounds, there is music, dancing, delicious food and drink practically round the clock.

This year, the “April Fair” will actually begin on the 1st of May and will last till the 7th. This is because it is customary to celebrate it two weeks after Easter. It will officially open with the “Alumbrado” or illumination of the “Portada” just before midnight. The incomparably colorful horse and carriage parade through the Feria streets starts the very next day around noon. Some of these casetas are private, but there are others which are open to the general public.

Another big part of the activity in the Sevilla Feria takes places in its bullring, one of the most beautiful plazas in all the world: La Maestranza, which dates back to 1765. Its program this year is made up of 14 corridas which featured all the top matadors and animals from the best ranches. The Fair began on Easter Sunday, with an excellent program: Morante de la Puebla, Juan Ortega and Pablo Aguado and then the remaining thirteen festejos resume on April 24th.  This is the line-up:

 

  • Easter Sunday: Morante de la Puebla, Juan Ortega and Pablo Aguado. Bulls from Juan Pedro Domecq.
  • Sunday 24 April: Oliva Soto, Esaú Fernández, Javier Jiménez, Borja Jiménez, Lama de Góngora and Ángel Jiménez. Bulls from Virgen María – Santa Ana.
  • Wednesday 27 April: José Garrido, Joaquín Galdós and Alfonso Cadaval. Bulls from Santiago Domecq.
  • Thursday 28 April: El Fandi, Miguel Ángel Perera and Daniel Luque. Bulls from El Parralejo.
  • Friday 29 April: Morante de la Puebla, Diego Urdiales and José María Manzanares. Bulls from Jandilla – Vegahermosa.
  • Saturday 30 April: Antonio Ferrera, Miguel Ángel Perera and Emilio de Justo. Bulls from Victorino Martín.
  • Sunday 1 May: Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, Lea Vicens and Guillermo Hermoso de Mendoza. Bulls from San Pelayo – El Capea.
  • Monday 2 May: El Juli, Roca Rey and Tomás Rufo. Bulls from Victoriano del Río.
  • Tuesday 3 May: Daniel Luque, Álvaro Lorenzo and Ginés Marín. Bulls from Juan Pedro Domecq – Parladé.
  • Wednesday 4 May: El Juli, José María Manzanares and Pablo Aguado. Bulls from Garcigrande – D. Hernández.
  • Thursday 5 May: Diego Urdiales, Cayetano and Emilio de Justo. Bulls from Hnos. García Jiménez – Olga Jiménez.
  • Friday 6 May: Morante de la Puebla, Juan Ortega and Roca Rey. Bulls from Núñez del Cuvillo.
  • Saturday 7 May: Morante de la Puebla, El Juli and Manuel Perera (alternativa). Bulls from Torrestrella.
  • Sunday 8 May: Manuel Escribano. Bulls from Miura.

 

Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online at www.lamaestranza.es. Bullfights start promptly at 6.30 p.m. but the celebration at the Fairgrounds has no deadline.