The April festival of the “Virgen de Sancho Abarca” is coming soon to the city of Tauste in Zaragoza. The festivities start on the 20th April and last four days with a wide variety of popular acts, confinement of heifers, popular lunches and folk festivals.

On the 20th April, the party opens at noon with the traditional putting of the “banner of slavery” in the balcony of the Slave Mayor’s house. At 8 pm the banner is moved to the Church, where a beautiful solemn Hail to the Virgin is sung by the local orchestra.

The 21st is the day of the city’s patron saint “Virgen de Sancho Abarca”, a very important day for the Tauste’s locals. At noon, starts at Plaza de España the interpretation of the famous dance called “Dance de Tauste”. It’s a traditional dance transmitted from one generation to another, which started in the 12th century, by the occasion of the reconquest of Tauste by Alfoso I, el Batallador. They dance with swords representing the battles between Christians and moors; do an amazing ballet representing the victories over the moors; build spectacular human towers representing the places that were conquered; and it ends with a triumphal march celebrating the return.

The 22nd is marked by the magnificent “Rosario de Cristal”, a cultural reference of the city. It’s an old procession, born in 1918, where glass lanterns of different sizes and shapes symbolize the Rosary. There are 300 small glass lanterns and four big ones representing the Mysteries of the Rosary. All lanterns have in scripted the name of the person who donated it and each Mystery is accompanied by a picture that represents it.

So, come to Zaragoza and participate in the April festival of Tauste! You can also take advantage of the wonderful touristic places the region has to offer such as the temples, churches and the remains of the old castle. The city offers many services like accommodation, recreation, sports, dining, etc., which will met all the visitor’s needs!

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Two weeks after “Semana Santa” and Seville it’s once again on party, this time to celebrate the Seville Party, also known as April Party. The party start, officially on next Monday, at midnight and it goes till 13^th April.

The party begins when the mayor of the city turn on the lights of the gate, El Pórtico. This gate is one of the big attractions of this celebration, it symbolize the entrance on “Real de la Feria”, where the party takes place. This door measure approximately 50 meters and has more than 20 thousand bulbs; it is possible to see the light that this door emanates before having entered in Sevilla! This is an object of art, made by the artists of the city that have been working in it since December.

The space of “Real de la Feria” has something like 1.2 million squares and it is divided in three parts: parking place, the amusement park (where the rides, circus and shows take place) and one big area for the casetas, (tends). This last park is the stage of the festivity, because is where the party takes place. There are more than one thousand casetas in the park, put in line. Each tend has is own bar, with kitchen and its proper way of entertainment. The most usual play inside these tends is the sevillanas, the typical type of music in Seville.

Almost all tends are private, from friends, families, politician parties, which mean that they are just open to guests or to the own owners, but there are some public casetas, as the municipal caseta, which is managed by the town hall. Inside this tends public or not, is the party, the food, music and fun, since the 1.30 pm till noon.

During the party days the local people wear their traditional clothes - the men use short pants and short jacket and the sevillana women wear the typical flamenco dress or the gipsy dress. Through the day there is a lot of animation: horses parades, bullfights and this party is also known to be the biggest concentration of coaches. If you are a fan of Spanish culture, next week come to Seville listening music, eat tapas and learn how to dance sevillanas!

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