Local Fests in Southern Spain

During spring and summer time, Andalusia is an explosion of colour and joyfulness. At this time of the year, the South of Spain takes a very special atmosphere, displaying all its magical splendour in many street festivities and unique events.

So, if you want to visit the heritage of Southern Spain, but at the same time want to have a unique experience, springtime is the right time for you to travel and discover Andalucia.

Here are some of the most popular festivities:

Cordoba Fair and Patios Contest:

May is the best time to visit this heritage city. During this month, you will call on courtyards fully decorated with geranium flowers, enjoy parades of floats decorated with flowers and taste traditional products such as Montilla wine, cured ham or assorted tapas. This festive month ends up with the Cordoba Fair, a great opportunity to see horsemen and women, locals and flamenco artists gathering together in the fairground of the city. The fairground, as that in Seville, hosts many small tents called casetas where people gather to eat, drink and dance. It will be a unique experience to live Spanish culture and traditions.

Jerez de la Frontera Horse Fair:

Horses, flamenco and sherry are always the three main features in Jerez de la Frontera. However, it is especially during the Horse Fair when these three cornerstones of the city take special relevance.

The fairground, filled with stalls where music and sherry wine are always present, becomes the location for a daily colourful parade featuring hundreds of horses passing by with their riders decked out in flat-topped hats, frilly white shirts, black trousers and leather chaps, and their female grupera (sideways pillion) partners in flamenco-inspired dresses.

In the fair, which is one of  Andalucia’s biggest festivals, you will be able to enjoy music, dancing, bullfights and all kinds of horse competitions, from dressage through to polo, where you will see the magnificent Andalusian horses in action.

APRIL FAIR IN SEVILLE

The April Fair takes place in Seville. If you visit this city from April 12th to 17th, you will taste the quintessential flavour of Southern Spain while you go through over 1000 “casetas” (tents) located in the fairground and all equipped with kitchen, bar and music, where they serve “tapas” and drinks almost 24 hours a day. In fact, the fairground becomes the second home of the city’s inhabitants, a place where people gather together with the only purpose of having fun.

During the fair, people dress in traditional Andalusian clothes: men wear the traditional countryside outfit and women wear flamenco or gypsy dresses. During the day, the fair is full of horse riders and richly festooned carriages.