Sevilla Celebrations

Spring in Seville has a special atmosphere, garlanded with the sweet scent of orange blossom and jasmine, and a frisson of excited anticipation, as the city's two most important events take place - first Semana Santa and then the Spring Fair, the Feria de Abril.

The Seville Fair takes place just two weeks after Semana Santa, in a huge area in Los Remedios, to the south-west of the city, next to the river. This is a week of serious dancing, drinking, eating and socialising, with late nights - or all-nighters. The sheer size of the April Fair's spectacle is extraordinary. From around midday until early evening - especially on Tuesday, the first official day - Sevilla society parades around the fairground in carriages or on horseback. There are also daily bullfights , generally considered the best of the season.

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The Holy Week as known as 'Semana Santa', is one of the most important celebrations in Seville, it is one of the city's two biggest annual festivals along with the April Fair (Feria de Abril) which follows two weeks later.

Semana Santa takes place the week leading up to the Easter weekend and consists of processions in which enormous 'pasos' (floats) are carried around the streets of Seville by teams of 'costaleros' (bearers) followed by hundreds of 'nazarenos' (penitents). Many of these floats are religious works of art that date back as far as the 17th century, each showing a small part of the Easter story.

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According to legend, Sevilla was founded by Hercules and its origins are linked with the Tartessian civilisation. It was called Hispalis under the Romans and Isbiliya with the Moors. Its high point in its history was following the discovery of America.

Sevilla lies on the banks of the Guadalquivir and is one of the largest historical centres in Europe, it has the minaret of La Giralda, the cathedral (one of the largest in Christendom), and the Alcázar Palace. Part of its treasure include Casa de Pilatos, Torre del Oro, the Town Hall, Archive of the Indies (where the historical records of the American continent are kept), the Fine Arts Museum (the second largest picture gallery in Spain) , plus convents, parish churches and palaces.

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