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Seville Spring Fair
The first of the summer fairs (see section below), festivities of the April Fair were born in Seville in 1847 and are a perfect expression of the Andalucian personality. Always two weeks after Easter Week. Read about the Seville spring fair.
May Horse Fair in Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez holds the Jerez May Horse Fair on the first week in May each year, an spectacular equestrian event, the Jerez Horse show takes place in the Gonzalez Hontoria Park. Some of the world's finest horses and riders compete in the endurance trials, coach driving, "pursuit and tumble" and dressage competitions. with a stunning display of the finest horses of the region.
May Crosses
May is a month of festivities in Cordoba, starting with the Crosses of May Festival (1st, 2nd and 3rd of May which is Santa Cruz day). The crosses identify distinct zones of the town which compete for the prize of the best florally decorated cross. The preparations take place secretly in the preceding months when women and children use this opportunity to sing and dance. In older times it was an excuse for young single people to meet. The event is organized by brotherhoods and financed by voluntary contributions in the neighbourhood. With the preparations made the crosses are dressed and the fiesta lasts various days. Representatives from each brotherhood act as judges to vote on the best dressed cross. The local tourist office will give you a map, as in Cordoba you may need help to find the crosses. Other village the dress crosses are Condado de Huelva, Sierra de Aracena, Andevalo, Almonaster la Real, Bonares, Ubrique.
Patio contests
The famous Cordoba Patio Contest (4th to 15th May 2005), in which home-owners compete for the prize awarded to the most beautifully decorated patio. The map provided by the local Tourism Office will help you find the competing courtyards which are open to the public during the day. This one is not to be missed for those who like flowers and gardens or are just interested to look inside the patios of private houses.
San Lucar Manzanilla (Wine) Fair
A lively fair dedicated to the Manzanilla which is a special dry sherry wine produced in Sanlcar de Barrameda. This intense fair which is organised by the town council and supported by the local wine producers last for several days about the third week in May.
Rocío Pilgrimage
Andalucia is famous for its pilgrimages or "romerías" - so called because pilgrims traditionally walked to Rome, and therefore became known as "romeros" - to popular shrines, around which fiestas are held. Many towns celebrate their Romaria to a local shrine a few miles away. It is a day in the countryside visiting a chapel or a sanctuary. Interestingly it is one of the few fiestas that is celebrated outside the nucleus of the town. The sanctuary is a physical and a spiritual point of reference. The departure from the town for the sanctuary is a proud public ceremony with all the necessary elements in a certain order. Flags and standards carried are by horsemen, decorated carts, men or women who are serving a pennance, then tractors, lorries and all sorts of agricultural vehicles. The municipal band usually provides the music.
Perhaps the most spectacular is the one devoted to the Virgen del Rocío, popularly called "El Rocio" for short. Nearly a million people from all over Spain and Andalucia make the long journey to gather in a small hamlet of El Rocio in the marshlands of the Guadalquivir River delta (south of Almonte), where the statue of the "Madonna of the Dew" has been worshipped since 1280. The pilgrims come on horseback and in gaily decorated covered wagons from all over the region, transforming the area into a colourful and noisy party. The climax of the festival is the weekend before Pentecost Monday (31 May 2004, 16 May 2005, 5 June 2006). In the early hours of the Monday the Virgin is brought out of the chrurch. This remarkable event is always televised.
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