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The famous Horse Fair of Jerez, the feria which takes place in the Spanish city famed for its horses and named for its sherry, Jerez de la Frontera in the province of Cádiz, takes place each year around late April/early May.

 

The Feria de Jerez is also called the Feria del Caballo, or the Festival of Horses, because there are lots of horse-based events that happen in the city and tourists can take horse-drawn carriage rides for the occasion.

 

It is a very traditional Spanish fiesta with a long history. It centres not only around horses, but also flamenco clothing, dancing, music and culture as a pastime of Andalusian peasants.

 

 

Most of the activity for the Jerez fair is concentrated around the Real de la Feria del Caballo, also called the Recinto Ferial de Jerez de la Frontera, which is an open-air showground with a sandy ground and space for over 150 ‘casetas’.

 

The casetas are booths or stands where you can get food and drink, and dance to the music, which is often traditional flamenco music. If you’re not much of a dancer, it’s still well worth going along to watch the amateur flamenco dancers, some of whom are really quite good.

 

Some of the casetas are just small kiosks and some have massive marquees, but all of them are a great way to dress up in your finest traditional Spanish clothing and experience an authentic Spanish fiesta.

 

 

 

The Feria de Jerez is also a time when there are lots of horse shows and equestrian activities which are organised by the City Council. It’s a delight just to be in the city and see the people dressed in their flamenco dresses and traditional horse riding costumes, and to see all the horses and carriages too.

 

If you do want to attend the gymkhanas and official, indoor horse competitions, you will have to purchase a ticket. These events all take place in the ‘Depósito de Sementales’, the horse showground opposite the recinto ferial. Contact the Jerez de la Frontera tourism office for more information on buying tickets.

 

 

Aside from eating, drinking and dancing, or watching the horse shows if you wish, you can enjoy the fairground rides, including carousels and other attractions suitable for children of all ages. The locals call these fair attractions ‘cacharritos’, and they can be found next to the feria ground where the casetas are located.

 

If you go during the day, from about 11am to 2pm, you can see the teams of horses parading up and down the open-air fairgrounds pulling carriages. You can even take a ride in one of these horse-drawn carriages, which will cost you about 40 euros per ride.

 

At night-time, the entire feria is lit up with spectacular coloured lights, and it’s worth visiting just to see that alone.

 

 

 

The fairground where the Feria de Jerez is held is located at the intersection of the Avenida de Europa and the Avenida de la Feria roads.

 

Several of the roads around the feria are closed for the duration of the fair, but parking can be found on the street nearby or at any of the paid car parks immediately to the south of the fairground, on the other side of the Avenida de la Feria.

 

 

Jerez de la Frontera is the second-to-last stop on the Cádiz Cercanías train line from Cadiz city.

 

From the Jerez de la Frontera train station, it’s about a 20-minute walk to the Recinto ferial, in more a less a straight line but which will force you to cross the road back and forth several times as there is not just one single pavement that leads you there.

 

 

There is also a bus that goes straight from the train station to the fairground, and generally around the time of the feria more buses from around the whole city are put on to accommodate the increased volume of visitors.

 

 

A taxi from the train station to the fairground will cost you about 5 euros, and take just 5 minutes.

 

 

The closest Spanish airport to Jerez is Jerez de la Frontera airport, which has a direct connection via Cercanías train, although there are only about four trains per day going in each direction that go all the way to the airport, which is at the end of the line.

 

Other tourists who choose to visit the province of Cadiz often fly to Seville airport as it is larger and has more connections, and is only about an hour away from Cadiz by train or car.

 

For British tourists, flying to Gibraltar airport from the UK is also a popular option when visiting Cadiz as there are lots of flight connections and it is also only about an hour away.