Spanish Journey Part Two
11. The Seville Fair

Narrator
Getting dressed for the Feria is of vital importance. Robert Elms sought advice from Doña Esperanza, whose family has been designing outfits for the Feria for the last 150 years.

Robert Elms
What are the most important features of the man's outfit?

Doña Esperanza
For men, the most important things are the riding boots, the lace shirt, the short jacket.

Robert Elms
That’s completely traditional?

Doña Esperanza
Yes, this is the typical Andalusian male outfit.

Robert Elms
And the dress for the Fair for women here is very important, isn’t it?

Doña Esperanza
Before, they were worn shorter, halfway down the leg, but now it is the fashion to wear them long, we've been doing long ones for some years now, as we women are all for becoming slender. Before, women being plump was ‘in’, but not now. Now you have to be slender, so a long dress makes you look slender and more svelte.

Robert Elms
Very good.

Doña Esperanza
Perfect.

Robert Elms
Perfect, OK....

Doña Esperanza
An Andalusian gentleman!

Robert Elms
An Andalusian! What an honour! I'm Andalusian!

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Narrator
The Feria, originally a horse trading fair, has turned, in time, into the characteristic celebration of Andalusian passions: a huge, extravagant, resonant and colourful fiesta, where the young and the old, humans and animals all take part together. The Feria is essentially a family celebration and dressing properly is de rigueur even for tiny tots.

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Narrator
Every day, around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, this is what there is to do and to see in the Feria. It is the horse procession, also known as the biggest equestrian traffic jam in the whole world. But what's a little confusion when the important thing is still to see and be seen!

[music]

Narrator
In the tents belonging to different families, people drink, eat and dance. The typical fair dance is the Sevillana. Even a beginner like Robert Elms managed to capture a pretty woman in his arms. 

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Narrator
The Feria is fantastic fun, but you need to know how to pace yourself. Although when night falls the horses go off to rest, the human beings never do. Suddenly, the atmosphere and the spectators change – dressed up in modern outfits for the serious session of fun that is ahead. Inside the tents there are private parties that are by invitation only. A long-running local joke is that the Fair consists of 2,000 cocktail parties, none of which you have been invited to. But this time we were lucky.

[music]

Narrator
Inside and outside the tents, the party goes on until the break of dawn.

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