History of the April fair

Every year in the month of April, Seville is seen as the protagonist of all Andalusia, launching its world-famous Feria de Abril. A week in which Sevillians and all those who visit Seville for this or another reason, can enjoy a good atmosphere with dancing, singing, tapas, chamomile and desire to have fun. But it was another objective when it was created . Back in 1846, there were two important businessmen, José Mª de Ybarra and Narciso Bonaplata, from Bilbao and Barcelona respectively, who had been in our city for years, and participated in the daily life of Seville as politicians and entrepreneurs – arriving one of them to have been mayor – proposed to create a livestock fair whose duration would be 3 days in the month of April, to take advantage of the good weather that comes with spring.

In its beginnings, the April fair was a fair dedicated to livestock.

The Sevillian consistory and its members unanimously welcomed this proposal, and presented it to the Queen, Isabel II at that time, which gave the green light so that in the following spring, in April 1847, the first one could be celebrated. livestock fair in Seville. It was an absolute success, and brought together a large number of visitors in the gardens of the Prado de San Sebastián, place where the April fair was used until 1973, year in which, for reasons of space, they moved it to the neighborhood of Los Remedios, in the Real de la Feria that we know today. Although the first years of the April fair were dedicated exclusively to livestock, it did not take long to find another type of fair and merchants, who They started offering meals, drinks and various distractions. This, thanks to the way of life and sevillian customs, was gaining more presence year after year, until the livestock stopped having a presence at the fair in Seville and became a popular party, dedicated to leisure and fun. For this change of scenery, were their own creators who strongly opposed to continue celebrating the fair after losing its livestock character, but finally and after so many years in which the people of Seville had given that festive character, ended up supporting it.