Sic Transit, Gloria

In one of the Alcazar's many interior courtyards, the site of
Spain's first tennis court, built for the royalty in the early
1900s; now it's just pushing up roses and shrubs and a tree

Seville's Alacazar Gardens

Until we figured out the dates of the feria, we were going to Seville mainly to see the old town and the cathedral and the Alcazar, the great Moorish palace and gardens that are my favorite secular Moorish place in Spain. True, the Alcazar in Seville was built by a Christian prince, but he hired Granada builders to do the job. This was before international Gothic or other styles, and, I conjecture, Moorish was the only style anybody knew in Spain at the time, apart from Roman. In any case, the Alcazar is beautiful throughout (more so than the more "authentic" Alhambra (well, authentic to  fanciful 19th century reconstruction)). We first visited the Alcazar in the winter of 2010, not a great time for gardens. Mid-April is much better.

Flamencas

They're not Flemish nor are they flaming, so what do you call 75,000 women in flamenco dresses? We tried flamengos, flamengettes, but have settled on the at least gender-appropriate flamenca. Dots or dottees might have worked (you'll see) but flamencas is now entrenched. In my mind anyway. The most interesting and appealing aspects of feria are the women and their flamenco dresses, which are, nearly without exception, of the polka dot tribe. And no two are alike (except the mother/daughter combinations). Here are some examples.

Pretty typical, arriving Wednesday afternoon

All ages; yes, we bought a flamenca outfit for Penelope for
next year

She smiled at me

Many younger flamencas

Mom generally nearby

You're not going to ride the scooter in that thing, are you?

The scooter was parked next to this; seriously;
sculpture of the Unknown Flamenca

Girls' flamenca dress department at El Cortes Ingles; these
are the left-overs! Yours, Penelope, came from a somewhat
less reputable source

In one of the more exclusive shops
downtown (closed for feria)

Practicalities; the dresses have hidden,
zippered pockets under the folds; we
also noted smart-phones stored there and
also more conspicuously in the massive
cleavage areas

More little flamencas

They start them very young (yes, I always ask permission
for shots like these)

Mother and daughter outfits

Matches the pink flamencas; encouraged
by his father, this kid knows how to strike a
pose

Teeny-bopper flamencas

Dancin'

Seville's Feria By Evening

We went back two days later to see and enjoy more of the feria...

In a publico, where I sampled the manzanilla, a sherry-like
drink that is traditional at the feria

And watched the dancing

Ditto

Ditto again

In the streets

Everywhere

I would have fit right in...

We moved on to the adjoining amusement park, and another
50,000 people

All the usual wild rides

Ditto

My idea of a shooting gallery

The larger of the ferris wheels

Errant balloons being hauled away

Main street by night

Rachel, note: this is the Pharma casita

Getting ready for a sit-down dinner

But we had an 11:30 bus to catch and had to leave

But I think we might be back for more
someday

Seville's Feria By Day

Imagine an annual week-long city celebration. A thousand of Seville's elite families, businesses and associations erect sizable casitas (tent buildings, some quite elaborate) on the fairgrounds just across the river from the old city. Each casita has its own kitchen and bar and facilities and can accommodate 50 or more; some many more. The parties go on 24/7 for seven days. Music, dancing, drinking, partying. The women dress up in flamenco dresses and perhaps 1% of the men in traditional caballero garb, the rest mostly in business attire. When things get slow, the elites parade around on their horses and in their buggies. There are even 6 or 8 publicos, places where the preterites--those of us without connections or invitations--can go, sit down, have a drink, watch, dance, pee. And there is also a sizable amusement park (two ferris wheels!) adjoining, for the additional amusement of those without invitations but who are looking for fun. We knew about the feria and timed our visit in Seville to occur in the middle of it. It is an extraordinary affair--culture, family, business, music, dance, dress, food, drink--and we wanted to see it both by day and in the evening. It is unlike any other pageantry we have seen or heard of.

A typical casita

Inside another...mid-afternoon, mid-week; business in
Seville adjusts its hours accordingly (except for the tourism
business; one sees few obvious tourists at the feria)

A larger casita

It's a very family thing

Parade time

Main gate to the fairgrounds

Caballero

The parades go on and on, quite colorful

Woman mostly ride side-saddle...understandably

This is the main street to the amusement park--maybe a
kilometer in length, packed

Posse

Most all the thousand private casitas have their own
security, some conspicuous, some less

Interior of another casita

Another

Here's the listing of all the casitas...our first visit was on a
city-wide holiday, so the buses were running on a reduced
schedule, and we had to get back to Camping Villsom, in
Dos Hermanas, before they stopped running; we resolved to
get back to the feria another day, or night