Sevilla Preference? Semana Santa or Feria de Abril
 

1. If you had to choose between seeing Sevilla during Semana Santa and Feria de Abril, which would you recommend first and why?

This would not be the first time visiting Sevilla just these events.

2. Is there another city that you would recommend for Semana Santa as well?
Thanks

I'd vote for Semana Santa, because (I think) it is easier for a foreigner/tourist to enjoy and appreciate the events. The feria is great too, but unless you dance sevillanas or have an invitation to a caseta, I think it would be less fun. The funfair is OK, and the horses and general atmosphere are pretty special, but I think it's more enjoyable for locals than for tourists.

That's not to say the feria isn't great fun or you wouldn't have a good time there, I just think if you had to choose one or other, you'd get more out of your trip if you were there during Semana Santa.

I also love the atmosphere in Granada during Semana Santa, particularly the "gypsy" procession ("el cristo de los gitanos")which I think is on Ash Wednesday (i.e. the Wed before Easter Sunday). As is the case for all the "pasos", they carry their effigies through the streets of the city, but unlike the others, the gypsies actually *run* with theirs, barefoot. After night falls, as they return up the hill to the Sacromonte area, people light bonfires along the paths and the hillside, so it's quite an amazing spectacle. When they return to their starting point at the end of the procession (at about 4 am), they make the effigy of the Virgin "dance" with Christ, accompanied by lots of flamenco singing. (At least, this is what they did when I last saw the procession in 1995 - am assuming things haven't changed!)

I was in Seville this past April during Feria. I was just a tourist & not invited to any of the casetas, but I still thought it was wonderful. It's so much fun to see everyone dressed in flamenco dresses and it's such a joyous atmosphere! Literally people dancing in the streets. Are you going with children? During Feria, they also have a large carnival with rides and games.

I was not there during Semana Santa, so I can't really say which is better. But I wanted to let you know of my experience during Feria.

Also, keep in mind hotel rates are double during these times.

I would agree with Lolly. It's still fun to visit during the Feria. I've been to both and the Feria beats the Semana Santa to my tastes. The latter is a lot of standing and waiting.

I managed to visit the casetas and this improves the fun but overall it's a great period to visit in Sevilla.

Blackduff

I would choose the Feria because Semana Santa is a religious holiday, and I am not. In fact, I really dislike the whole thing and a lot of things about religion, but I do not believe in that stuff.

Another vote for Feria in Sevilla. I think it more clearly shows the unabashed exuberance of the people of Seville than Semana Santa. And Feria's way more fun!

My husband and I were in Seville during the Feria this past April. I think the Feria would be more enjoyable if you are a local and are able to party with friends in the private casetas. We did enjoy walking around and taking in the fair atmosphere, but we didn't stay on the grounds long as there wasn't much to do. If you have children, the rides and games could be fun!

I think the parts we did enjoy about the fair were not on the grounds. For example, I was delighted each time I saw women in the city dressed in their traditional dresses.

We did go to a bull fight while there, which is a popular fair tradition and it was definately interesting!

Book a room soon though, as they are snatched up quickly and prices skyrocket!

Audie - I agree - the best part of Feria were all the beautiful dresses! Even little girls and babies wore flamenco dresses - so cute!

I also went to a bullfight during Feria. Audie, what did you think of it? I was suprised at the seating in the rink in Seville - no aisles! I am glad I went since it is a part of the culture, but I wouldn't want to go again. I knew it would be hard for me to watch, but it was even harder than I thought!

Lolly - I'm with you in that I'm glad we went to see it becase it is part of their culture, but I do not need to go again! Sitting in such tight quarters was an experience! I was glad I was in formal dress like many there. I found a lot of things interesting - from the fact that it seems more of an art then a sport to all of the whispering to get people to be quiet.

Sorry, I was NOT in a formal dress, thankfully!

Audie,
So interesting to hear your thoughts about the bullfight because I thought the exact same things! I was surprised to see many people formally dressed. And I was also surprised how quiet arena was. I expected more noise, but you're right, everyone was whispering and "shush-ing" people who talked too loudly. They definitely take it seriously!

Okay, maybe I'm sour grapes about bullfighting. I find that this is the most horrible and as you learn more, it's even worse.

My collegues that I knew when I lived in Spain were split. About 50% were pro and 50% had the same of my mind. I find that the younger people are moving away from the Corrida.

To me, the starting of the corridas, is a negative of the feria.

Now, I'll get off from my stool and be positive about the feria. Here's a good part of the feria. Young girls about five years old can dance on the Seviallana. No wonder the girls dance so well.

Blackduff

I am enjoying the feedback.
Thank you very much.

I want to see and hear a saeta in person during Semana Santa but also experience Feria personally. I have no problem with the casetas I know they are private in general.

So far few have experienced Semana Santa...

I also was hoping to have feedback about Semana Santa in one city versus another.... any comments

BTW Hanl...Granada during SS sounds great too. The Granada Semana Santa sounds great and different from the others cities. Again I have no prob with that either just unfortunately only so much time. Like this would be at trip in 09. Have you experienecd it elsewhere in Spain too?

When you were in Granada where did you stay?

Thanks

ams

We experienced Semana Santa this year in our small white village ( first night) and then the rest in Seville.

I LOVE the festivals in our tiny , beautiful white village...partly because I know all of the people that are in it and watching it. ( very small town).

I enjoyed it in Seville, but was a little disappointed as it is a mad house and the weather was the worse that we have experienced in a whole winter in Spain.

We had spent time in early March in Seville in glorious weather with family and that was so much nicer...no crowds.

Of course I am someone who does not enjoy crowds stuffed into tiny areas as I think it can be dangerous.

Nevertheless we did have some thrilling moments and I am glad I saw Semana Santa in Seville, but I do not care to go again.

As an outsider,there is not that much difference between each procession...once you have seen one, you have basically seen them all. Too much waiting, crowds, bad weather, late nights, hard work figuring it out.

We will try the Fiera next year I think as I do want to see the girls dressed in flaminco dresses on horses and such.

We will enjoy the small town Holy Week.

Here is what I wrote about it at the time:

http://www.soultravelers3.com/blog/C...225526B71.html

Amsdon, time is always the big issue on holiday isn't it!! (so much to see, so little time...!)

I have experienced Semana Santa in Seville and in Granada. I know Seville has the more famous processions, but I really liked the atmosphere in Granada best. However, I was living right on Plaza Bib'Rambla in Granada at the time and many of the pasos passed right underneath my bedroom window, so that probably added to my enjoyment.

In Granada, also loved the "silent" night-time procession that passed through the streets marked only by the beat of a drum. Sent shivers down my spine.

I've been to the Feria too, and though I enjoyed it, I spent much of the time wishing I knew how to dance sevillanas, as it looked like a lot of fun but I was disappointed I couldn't join in. There were so many people I also found things a bit overwhelming (I got separated from my friends and found myself lost, alone in the middle of the feria at 2 am!)
Since then, I've learned how to dance sevillanas and am hoping to go back to Seville so that I can really join in the fun and dancing! Friends of my family have a caseta, so if I do go I should be able to enjoy celebrating with the locals a bit more.

Oh, forgot, have also been in Nerja (Costa del Sol) during Semana Santa. Much smaller scale, but still enjoyable. Lovely beach there too :)

A non-sequitor.

If you want to experience a different Semana Santa, try Antigua, Guatemala. Early Easter Sunday, before the final procession, carpets of colorful sawdust directly in the route. They can be highly eloborate or simple.

My wife and I have given up on religion but are still curious how the rest of the world lives. Which to us, is the basis of travel. Travel is not about us but others.

I wouldn't recommend either for Sevilla.
I don't know how flexible your schedule is, but may I suggest you consider the Feria del Campo and Romeria to the Santuario de la Virgen del Rocio (Huelva Province, near Almonte)? It peaks on Pentecost Sunday weekend (28 May 2008) and ends the following Tuesday. The last time I was there (5-years ago) people claimed there were a million Pilgrims: Police estimated 650,000 ... but that's still a lot of people!

Thanks all. We are mulling over the options nothing set.

I do dance Sevillanas Hanl so id we ever meet up I will dance with you.
How scary for you to be lost at 2 A.M
Did you just stay up till daybreak?

Ah, if you dance sevillanas then you must go to the Feria!! :D (Just make sure you agree on somewhere to meet up with your companions in case you get separated!)

When I was lost there on my own, I wandered around for a couple of hours and eventually bumped into a friend of a friend who was living in Seville, and kindly let me stay on his sofa!!! (the friends I got separated from had the keys to our accommodation). Found my friends again the next day...

Wow!
For sure take a cell phone too.

My vote is for... Malaga. One of the most spectacular features of the Holy Week in Malaga is that the floats are simply monumental and can weigh up to six tons. They are made to house velvet and gold drapes which reach up to some nine metres and cover the "Dolorosa" (statues). The sheer size of the floats means that they cannot enter through the churches and therefore have to be assembled in the street. More than a hundred young men support each one. The "Virgen de las Penas" (Virgen of Sorrow) is not dressed in the traditional velvet robe but instead clad with natural flowers comprising more than twenty thousand carnations.

Thanks Revulgo that is the kind of little known info I was looking for.....I appreciate it.

We are toying with April We did not go to Zamora (Carbajales & Aliste) in May this year for a number of reasons but that is my grandparents'hometown and was considering that too for Semana Santa. What do you think of that idea?
Also I am a "Flamenca" at heart so the feria is something I should have seen 20 years ago but never did. But really sevillanas is not flamenco as you know, it is fun.
I always look forward to your comentarios. ams

I never been to Sevilla during Feria because everyone has told me that is a closed party with tents (casetas) hosted by aristocratic families for invitation-only affairs. If you don't know people in Sevilla can only walk through the feria feeling the atmosphere or enter into one overcrowded public tent.

Wife's sister-in-law belongs to a group in Madrid who dance Sevillanas and who make the Romeria al Rocio every year. The Procession from Sevilla is mostly on donkey carts, on horseback and just caminando & bailando las Sevillanas and various other 'gypsy' dances. So, amsdon, you should fit in nicely with that milieu.

I like the smaller Semana Santa events like one encounters in Huelva or Jerez de la frontera; and you can watch more on TVE in the air conditioned comfort of your hotel.

Hi Ana,

we spent last year´s Holy Week in Cordoba, from Palms Sunday to Easter Sunday. One of the days we went to Sevilla on a day trip and we were able to watch a couple of processions, but I found that Cordoba was more intimist and nearer to the people. It also helped that we were staying at the hotel Maimonides and we had a corner room, from which we could watch all of the processions we weren´t following in the streets. We didn´t ask for the room, it was offered to us seeing that we were staying for the whole week.

It was a great week. We managed to visit a lot of places during the day, and Cordoba has some absolutely amazing settings (the Cristo de los Faroles, for example). The little kids playing with the discarded wax, the very, very good bands, the people crying because it was raining and they couldn´t go out with their virgins, the Foreign Legion carrying the Christ (as in Malaga, a place mentioned by Revulgo and on my to-do list), the changing of the "costaleros" ...

Personally, I feel that Holy Week can give you more of a sense of belonging, and it has still a festive feeling to it (I think I have never eat so many sunflower seeds in my life). I think that the Feria de Abril will be stunning to look at, but difficult to get into. During the Holy Week in Cordoba we spoke with many people and everybody shared tips of the best "pasos", the best places to look at them ...

Nevertheless, I think that one year I will get a good seat near La Campana in Sevilla to watch "La Madrugá" (paying a lot, I know), go down there with the AVE from Madrid, stay awak the whole night, and return home sometime around noon completely wrecked, but quite happy.

Do you mean Bercianos de Aliste when you say Aliste in Zamora? In that case we are talking very, very different things to the usual Holy Week in Andalucia, and it is absolutely impressive. I have only seen in pictures (the impressive ones by Cristina Garcia Rodero come to mind right now), but I have a friend who has been there, and says it is different. I would really think seriously of going. You could maybe combine it with other places in Castilla-Leon, such as Zamora or Valladolid.

Rgds, Cova

Thanks guys this is great stuff!

Cova, my grandfather was from Carbajales and my grandmother Cerezal de Aliste but they are both gone now so I am getting the info from my uncle who has been there a few times but has a bad memory. I don't want to wait too long there may not be too many of the old timers left to speak with.

Ned I would love the info on the group.
Is it a club you say? I unfortunately do not fit into my Sevillana dress now that I am of "that age" but anyway it would be a blast to see! I get a bit carried away and never get tired of that (poor DH! )

Revulgo I know the casetas are private and the public ones very crowded, but I hope to see Feria at least once in my life. I have many dancer friends in US who are not all that hot on Feria...

Ned suggested Jerez or Juelva that is another thought. I have an old aquintance I have not seen in years in Jerez, Maria Bemudez, who now lives there. BTW if anyone is looking for an accomplished flamenco teacher who also speaks Englsih here is her website www.mariabermudez.com. She's a girl from East Los Angeles who lived the dream & now lives & dances full time in Jerez..sigh...

Thanks again all I love the information!

amsdon writes: "Ned I would love the info on the group.
Is it a club you say? I unfortunately do not fit into my Sevillana dress now that I am of "that age" but anyway it would be a blast to see! ... "
Maybe you could find a seamstress (modista) who could 'let it out' for you.

It is a club; she lives in Leganes (Madrid) and because it's a ladies' thing, I can't provide the info you request.

cova: What a stroke of luck to have a room overlooking the Processions in Cordoba. In Sevilla, Cantaores de Flamenco sing to la Macarena from the Balcones. Were you able to watch from a Balcon adorned with a Manton de Manila? Did you or any of your group sing to the Virgen??

Ned: The dress would need a little more alterations than a "little" letting out. The irony is I am now at the age where I can truly interpret w/ deep emotion (some call it duende) life's twists and turns, but the body is too out of shape to do any such intrepreting through dance, (at least in public)

How wonderful that you have seen & hear the saetas. That is what I want to hear in person.

Ana, I am jealous that you are already planning another trip!

amsdon writes: "How wonderful that you have seen & hear the saetas. That is what I want to hear in person."

I didn't see/hear them in Cordoba; It was near el Portal de la Macarena in Sevilla as the Procession returned from its overnight trek. The Cantaor was on a Balcon about 200m east of the Basilica (on the Procession route).

Comfy we cannot go yet. but anyway planning further ahead this time.
I have always wanted to see both.

Ned how lucky you were to be in Sevilla then for that.

Good planning is half the fun, amsdon. Enjoy.

amsdon writes: "Ned how lucky you were to be in Sevilla then for that."

The Procession of la Macarena and Cristo de Gran Poder leaves the Basilica de la Macarena around midnight, goes downtown to the Cathedral and back to its starting point around 11:00AM. When it ends, the Nazarenos fill the taverns and consume large quantities of CruzCampo

Thanks!

I have never visited Spain during the feria as when I've posed the "Semana Santa versus feria" question to my spanish friends they all recommend Semana Santa. My first (and supposedly once in a lifetime) Semana Santa was in 2003 so this year was my fifth year in a row. I always visit Sevilla because it is THE place for Semana Santa. However, Sevilla is very crowded, the hotel prices skyrocket and it is not as intimate as smaller cities. I have read that the procesionals in Cordoba, Jerez, Granada and Malaga are very nice. However, I will let you know my secret. I love Cadiz. It is my favorite place to visit for Semana Santa. It's surrounded by water and a great based for daytrips to Sanlucar, El Puerto de Santa Maria, Arcos de la Frontera and some of the other white villages, Jerez, etc.... During Semana Santa it is much easier to see processionals up close and to see them go through the narrow streets of Cadiz is incredible. Every year when I first return from my Semana Santa trip, I vow to try a different set of cities the next year. A few months later, Sevilla and Cadiz are beckoning and I'm making reservations again! Which reminds me, if you want to visit during Semana Santa or feria and you want a specific hotel or a central location, you'll definately need to book far in advance.