Feria in Jerez de la Frontera

The feria in Jerez is all about horses and dressing up–and also about drinking and dancing the sevillana.  There is a wide promenade in the fairgrounds where the horses parade.  Some are saddled, some pull carriages, but all are exquisite animals, braided and tasseled and shining.

Fairgoers can have their photographs taken with a horse, as above, or buy a ride in a carriage.  All along the promenade are the big booths called casetas where one can get drinks and tapas, or a meal, and dance.  Further along are the rides.  Here the noise is ear-shattering.

And of course, there’s food: churros y chocolate, tortilla de patatas, helado, and many variations of ham and sausage sandwiches.

Let me try to describe the most ingenious ride.  Four or five huge tubes of plastic float in a large pool of water.  They look almost like tubes of bubble wrap.  Kids go inside the tubes and run, like hamsters on a wheel.  The tube spins; the kids fall down.  Fun!

This gentleman looked so very Spanish.  He reminded me of my ex-father-in-law.  Check out the stirrups.  After I took his picture, he did crack a smile.

On the way to the parking lot, we saw this couple heading into the feria.