Last night was switched on the lighting that starts the Horse Fair 2017, this year dedicated to Lola Flores
Lightning of the Jerez Fair
The Horse Fair is the most important festival held in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz), the week its neighbors are waiting the whole year to fit their best clothes out and have a lot of fun. It’s declared of International Tourist Interest, people from all over the world come here attracted by horses, wine, flamenco, gastronomy and, of course, bulls. It begins a week after the April Fair (which date depends on Easter), this year 2017 will be from 13 to 20 May.
Like most fairs, it emerged in the Middle Ages as an annual cattle market, in this case mainly equine. Over time the social part got much more importance and at the moment the González Hontoria Park, where it is located the Real fairground, has more than 250 ‘casetas’ (booths) where people enjoy from early hours until late.
The Fair begins with the lighting of the ‘portada’ and fireworks. Then starts a week full of activities: a competition of ‘casetas’ (decoration and so on…), music and dance shows all day, tapas competition, horse rides … Men are usually dressed in ‘corto’ (typical spanich clothes of horse riders), if they ride horses, and women in ‘flamencas’. At night its usually half formal dress code.
In the equestrian part are celebrated parades of horsemen and amazonas, tests of ‘acoso y derribo’, ‘doma vaquera’, exhibition of ‘enganches’ (kind of horse hitch) or morphological competition.
No doubt the horse is the absolute protagonist of the ‘Feria de Jerez’, but its Bullfighting Fair is one of the most well-known and popular, with posters full of figures and important successes. This year are coming Zalduendo, Núñez del Cuvillo and Juan Pedro Domecq livestocks; and the bullfighters El Fandi, Cayetano, Lopez Simón, Padilla, Morante, Manzanares, Talavante and Roca Rey.
Tickets for the whole Fair here.
Poster of the Horse Fair 2017, dedicated to Lola Flores.
