España

Feria de Abril or the April Fair

Celebrates the glorious Sevillian culture of music and dance all week long...

HISTORY

• Isabella was declared Queen of Castile after King Henry IV died.
• Isabella showed her greatest leadership abilities when she decided that Ferdinand and she would equally rule the two Kingdoms while married.
• “Tanto monta, monta tanto (As much as the one is worth so much is the other – Isabella as Ferdinand).

WORK

• The April Fair is an annual festival that celebrates the traditional Seville culture and extends for a period of 5 days.
• The whole concept of holding this annual fair was given by Jose Maria Ibarra and Narciso Bonaplata.
• It officially began in April of 1847, inaugurated by Queen Isabella II at the Prado of San Sebastian.
• It first started as a fair to sell and trade livestock.
• It originally started with 3 marqueens where locals could socialize and now ended up with about a 1000 casetas.

EDUCATION

• reading, spelling, writing, grammar, mathematics, art, chess, dancing, embroidery, music, and religious instruction.
• .She lived a relaxed lifestyle.
• Isabella had full knowledge of what was going on and of her role in the feuds.

SIGNIFICANT

• it was her that was the better ruler. Her husband did bring to their marriage the Kingdom of Aragon which enabled them to unite Spain.
• New World needed a ruler such as Isabella who had the leadership skills to guide and make Spain a great country.
• She brought peace in her country and joined to continents for the better of her people.

TRADITION

The bull fight is one of the long standing traditions that are organized in the April Fair. Some of the best bull fights in all of Spain are showcased here. In fact the streets in the Real de la Feria are named after famous bullfighters. Bull fights can be viewed from the Plaza de Toros de Maestranza from 5:30pm every day of the April Fair.

MAGOR ACHIEVEMENT

The front gates of the April Fair in 2015.

• Isabella the Catholic and as Spanish Isabel la Católica
• Born April 22, 1451,at Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile
• died November 26, 1504, Medina del Campo, Spain.
• Queen of Castile 1474–1504 and of Aragon 1479–1504, ruling
• With her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon (Ferdinand V of Castile).

INTRODUCTION

• The MAJOR goal was to lessen the power of the nobles, the second, was to re-organize the courts and the administration of justice.
• They got Pope Sixtus IV to establish the Spanish Inquisition in 1478, and the Inquisition officially lasted until 1808.
• Converting was not good enough for the Chief Inquisitor, Torquemada.
• He convinced, Isabella and Ferdinand that the Jewish people posed a threat to their Kingdoms, even those that had previously converted.
• On March 31, 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand ordered that by July 1, 1942 all people of the Jewish faith had to leave Spain or be put to death.
• Some of these people remained secretly in Spain.

Hundreds of multicolored lanterns are hung along the streets of the April Fair. On the midnight of the first sunday, two weeks after Easter the April Fair officially commences. Thousands of lanterns light up exactly on midnight to mark the start of this week. This occasion is called as the lighting test.

Isabella

the

Catholic

MUSIC AND DANCE

The Feria de Abril is especially famous for its flamenco music and dance known as the ‘Sevillanas’ Inside every caseta you can hear Sevilanas a four-part song with a four-part dance routine. This type of folk music and dance origins from Seville, Spain and is derived from the Castilian folk music. Equestrian events in the Feria de Abril are accompanied by local musicians playing Sevillana ballards on their guitars.

IMPORTANT PLACES

The April Fair fairgrounds is at the Los Remedios in Seville. The ‘Real de la Feria’ is where the actual festival takes place. It includes an amusement park known as ‘Calle de Infierno’ or Hell Street with carnival rides for all ages and even a few circus performances. About a 1000 multicolored casetas filled with music and dance can also be found at the Real de la Feria. The streets of the Real de la Feria is named after famous bullfighters such as Juan Belmonte. One of the most important locations in the Feria de Abril is the Plaza de Toros de Maestranza where the famous bullfight takes place.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The unwritten dress code at the Feria de Abril for women is the flamenco or the Traje Gitana (gypsy dress). This Flamenco dress is mostly in a mermaid style, form fitting and sometimes skin tight so they have to be custom or tailor made to be the perfect fit. The floor length flamenco dresses are more popular but the short dresses are also preferable especially if you want to escape the heat. The most common pattern for the flamenco dress is the famous polka dots or lunares. The ruffles are the centerpiece of the entire dress, they can be placed at the bottom of the dress to add volume or at the end of your sleeves they give the whole dress a very regal look. You can also accessorize with flowers, shawls, combs and jewelry.

COSTUMES-WOMEN

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isabella-I-queen-of-Spain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile

http://www.sunshineandsiestas.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-27-at-10.22.25-AM.png

http://shedreamsoftravel.com/2014/05/fashion-la-feria-seville/

https://www.spanish-fiestas.com/festivals/feria-de-abril/

http://www.andalucia.com/festival/seville-feria.htm

http://www.andalucia.org/es/feria-de-abril/origenes-y-actualidad/

https://www.enforex.com/culture/feria-abril.html

http://www.spanishunlimited.com/spain/culture/2012/1/feria-de-abril-seville

http://www.interigual.com/what-is-the-seville-fair/?lang=en

http://www.sunshineandsiestas.com/2014/04/03/i-bought-a-flamenco-dress-now-what-a-guide-to-buying-complementos/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2017/may/05/seville-feria-de-abril-april-festival-celebrations-in-pictures

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville_Fair

http://www.sunshineandsiestas.com/2016/03/28/feria-de-abril-as-foreigner/

COSTUMES-MEN

Men at the Feria de Abril often wear their finest clothes for the Feria de Abril. They mostly wear their formal suits of the traditional Feria de Abril clothing. The traditional style for men's clothes in the Feria de Abril is called the Corbores. This style is worn by the people who ride the horses on show or the horse draw carriages. This style consists of a old style suit paired with blue, black or grey dress pants. The most important part of this whole outfit is the wide brimmed, flat top and striped hat.

España

Casetas are owned and decorated by local families, groups of friends, businesses, clubs, trade associations and political parties. The Casetas are the best place for eating, drinking, dancing and socializing. Most of the casetas are private and totally exclusive but there are a few public casetas.

Everyone getting off horse drawn carriages really give you a sense of the traditional Sevillan atmosphere.

The other important April Fair tradition is the colourful polka dotted flamenco dresses worn by women and farm boy outfits donned by men.

TRADITION

Spain