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| Every spring, towns in Andalucia celebrate Feria. Families, friends, hermandades (brotherhoods) and tourists gather together in casetas to laugh, talk, eat, drink and dance. It's a fun festival that goes into the wee hours of the morning for about a week. After the celebration, locals get a day off of work to recuperate and rest! |
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| The Jerez Feria is famous for its horses and carriages, which were spectacular. |
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| But for this post, we're focusing on fashion. |
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| Half way through the afternoon, we realized that people loved to pose for pictures. This was such a delightful change from Morocco where people vehemently disliked getting their photos taken. |
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| Of course, in all fairness, Moroccans are just being themselves, wearing what they normally wear. They don't like being treated like odd specimen in a zoo. But at Feria in Spain, people wear costumes to be on display. All the photographer has to do is smile, motion to the camera, and say "por favor?" Parents loved their kids being photographed. Ladies and gents were flattered. |
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| Children were adorable in their dresses. |
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| (Laura and Molly, had you grown up here, there's no doubt you would have wanted a new dress every year!) |
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| Many of the casetas are private and only open to members and their guests. If you have a local friend with a caseta, you could be lucky enough to receive a much coveted invite. |
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| Feria usually takes place on the outskirts of town. In El Puerto, casetas are temporary tents constructed every May. But in Jerez, there is an entire area of the city devoted to Feria with permanent casetas, like this one. Public and private casetas are used just once a year. |
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| More locals, happy to pose. |
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| Love the pink dress. |
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| Men riding horses had their own costumes of fitted pants and a Zorro-like wide-brimmed hat. |
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| Men also wore the short-cut jacket and sash for a belt. |
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| Music plays inside casetas and dancing the "Sevillana" is encouraged. It's beautiful to watch, and there are plenty of Americans who take lessons, dress up and look forward to dancing at Feria every year. |
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| The traditional Feria drink is Rebujito--fino or manzanilla sherry, mixed with lemonade and served with a lot of ice in a tall glass. Even in mid-May it's hot. These drinks are thirst-quenching and surprisingly good! |
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| It was a great day to wander around and take in the sights. (Polka dots were popular!) |
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| Another year, another Feria. Our friends Amanda and Alejandro and baby Daniel are moving Stateside this summer. They've been our Feria buddies these past few years, and we'll miss them! Adios! |
