La Feria

Friday May, 20-Sunday May 29 2011

Every year Cordoba has its' biggest festival of the year called La Feria over a 10 day period at the end of May. It is similar to a typical state fair in the United States with all of the regular rides and concession stands. However, this fair also has another bigger section with lots of big, white tents in rows forming streets. These tents are called Cosetas. Each coseta is its' own restaurant, bar or club with its' own theme. Many of the woman are wearing Sevilliana dresses which are the typical Andalusian dresses woman wear while dancing to Sevilliana music similar to Flemenco. Some of the men are dressed in typical clothing as well which includes special suits and hats. During the day time there are people riding in horse and carriages through the fair where the horses are decorated with colorful bows in their hair. People come at all hours of the day and stay until late at night gathering with friends and family while enjoying themselves. It is the stereotypical image of Spain more importantly of Andalusia.

One of the Coseta's

The Horses

Boy on Pony

The Entrance to La Feria

At night

My experiences at La Feria were such a perfect ending to my time in Spain with all of my close friends I have made this year along with experiencing the true Spanish culture one last time. I went several afternoons and evenings with my close American friends. But I also had the opportunity to go with two of the teachers at my school, Patro and Maria Jose. I was invited to have lunch with them and the teachers from another school where Maria Jose worked at last year. Lunch was followed by lots of dancing from one coseta to the next. It was such a great experience to be able to take part in the festivities with a bunch of Spaniards along with meeting new people.

With the teachers at Grupo Cantico