It’s nearly April… so what a perfect week to post about one of my favorite trips last year to Sevilla for the famous Feria. This was a unique trip because I went with several classmates from my MBA, and my bestie took on the horrific logistics of renting two large vans to fit about 14 of us for a 6+ hour drive from Madrid to Sevilla.

…Which leads me to Tip #1: Buy a train ticket here. Early.

Also not sure which smarty pants decided to put the boys in charge of choosing where we slept… but since we booked this pretty late they decided to put us up in a hostel with no reviews. Pretty sure we were their first guests ever? The bathroom shower didn’t really work in our suite and it was an adventure. We also only got 2 keys for 14 people… and several of us split up throughout the evening and accidentally locked out one of our friends. So Tip #2: Stay somewhere reputable that gives you enough keys.

Tip #3: Before you go, it is key to get the perfect outfit. With a week to go, I screwed up on finding a great and affordable dress in time (noticing a pattern about planning in advance?) Feria isn’t one of those places where only the tourists dress up and the locals avoid going. Feria is where the families get together in some of the most beautiful and flashy decorum. Pretty much EVERY woman was dressed to the nines in a fluffy flamenco gown.

Fun fact– you can RENT these bad boys and save a lot of money. There are great stores in Madrid that sell flamenco outfits for ridiculous prices (such as Maty near Opera), but for those of us who don’t have 500 Euro around, I enjoyed renting from a place called Menkes in Tetuan. By the time I went there were about 5 choices left and only 2 of them were cute haha. I went for the more expensive option because whatever, it was perfect. hot pink with traditional polka dots. I wore boots underneath since the grounds are a bit muddy. It is also pretty damn chilly in Sevilla in early April… so a long dress and boots were great. As was the shawl. Also, don’t forget flowers for your hair!

Tip #4: Befriend a local to hang out in a caseta. Casetas are these whimsical tents owned by local families. You can’t just walk into them, though I’m sure you could be invited into a few. There are also some public casetas from what I remember. Each is decorated in a unique way (remember those details so you remember which one is yours! They aren’t marked well otherwise) and most have live flamenco music! Food and drink was provided inside for a price, and there were toilets! My rugby friend’s family was super accommodating, and some of his family friends taught us how to dance flamenco. This was my favorite part obviously!

Since Feria is clearly a fair, we also got to snack on cotton candy and see people riding around on horseback. So much pomp and circumstance.

The fact that you can dress up, hang out in a beautiful caseta, eat and drink amazing Andalusian cuisine, AND see the sights of this incredible city make going to Spain in April a must!

Here are some links to buy flamenco dresses…
http://www.elduendedesevilla.com/index.php/moda-flamenca/tienda
http://www.flamencoexport.com/flamenco-best-sellers/flamenca-outfits/flamenca-dress-outlet.html
https://www.tamaraflamenco.com/en/
http://theflamencoguide.com/best-flamenco-shops-in-madrid/