Do you know what a Spanish Feria is?

You probably think women dressed in colour full flamenco dresses, men playing guitars, clapping of hands and dancing, fine wine and fine horses. Well, you are right and you are wrong. It is all those things and a lot more.

First of all it’s noise and lots of it. The first feria I attended in a small village here in Spain had two bands playing back to back all night. So one band would play for about 2 hours, a medley of cover versions of latest hits as well as some old classics to get the older generation going. Then the other band would come on and…guess what…do exactly the same! So after a few hours you would be brainwashed after listening to the same songs over and over again. By a bunch of tartly dressed women and some cheesy guys with far too much grease in their hair.

And they didn’t stop until 7 the next morning, the poor sods.

What else is Feria in a small village? Its ferris wheels, bumper cars and candy floss. Macho men riding their horses. Horses they don’t normally care to exercise, but kept to keep their Feria pride of being real men and be able to parade around on a stallion, however rarely they ride it.

But for a lot of people in the pueblos, the town feria is a chance to come back and see family and catch up with old friends, wherever they have gone in the world. Which might be the bit I am lacking to truly enjoy the feria.