La Feria de Bormujos

Every town and city in Spain holds a "feria" or town fair once a year. Every town holds it at a different time of year, and we just happened to be near the town of Bormujos, outside of Sevilla, in time to catch their small feria.

Ferias are much like town/ state fairs in America in some ways. There are lots of rides for kids (or adults), music and fun. But there are also a few differences as well.

First of all, the action starts late, especially at a small fair like in Bormujos. We arrived at 10:30 pm and we didn't see too many people around. "Oh, I guess we're too early, nothing has started yet..." claimed our hosts. Of course, to us Americans, imagining a fair that starts so late in the evening is a bit unheard of. That was definitely one culture shock for us, getting used to Spaniards timing for things.

When you go to the feria, you should find a tent that suits your liking and get comfortable for an evening of food, drink and entertainment. The fair grounds are lined with tents, some open to the public, some open by invitation only, which host food, drinks and music. We chose the tent run by the local Ayunamiento, or city hall.  It's the biggest tent, and starts it's entertainment the earliest. But there are all sorts of tents set up to choose from, like the one below run by the local soccer team, Peña Betica.

The other fun thing at the feria is the fact that it's a chance for folks to get all dressed up. Actually, in Bormujos, mostly only little girls get dressed up, but a few women really took it serious and were dressed to the nines in their traditional Spanish dresses as you can see above. Our host showed us photos from the feria in Sevilla and she and all her friends were dressed in traditional dresses as were most of the folks around them. It's amazing to think that even now in this day and age people get so formally dressed for an event like a fair. But it's great to see that they retain this culture in this modern world.