''Feria del Sol'' (), or ''Carnaval Taurino de América'' (), is an international cultural festival held in the city of Mérida,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

every year in February. The ''Feria'' festival is held alongside the carnival feast. The festival includes bull competitions, cultural expositions, commercial and zootechnic expositions,

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

s, and a voting competition for ''La Reina Del Sol'' ().Krzysztof Dydyński, Charlotte Beech
''Venezuela'', Lonely Planet, 2004,

History

The city of Mérida or ''City of the Knights'' had celebrated its historic past in

, but it did not have fairs similar to the cities of San Cristóbal,

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

, or

Táriba Táriba is a town in Táchira (state), Táchira, Venezuela, and is the capital of the Cárdenas Municipality. It was founded in 1602. Táriba has a population of 128,590. It's located on the outsides of the city of San Cristóbal, Táchira, San C ...

. Therefore, a group of

amateurs An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History H ...

got the idea to build a ''Plaza de Toros'' (bullring), so that Mérida had a taurine calendar and a fair counted among the most important of the country. The fair was set for 9 and 10 December, as the feast of Immaculate Conception coincided with the beginning of the month. For the bullfighting, César Faraco, Manuel Benítez "El Cordobés", Francisco Rivera "

Paquirri Francisco Rivera Pérez (; 5 March 1948 – 26 September 1984), better known as Paquirri (), was a Spanish bullfighter. He died after being gored by a Spanish Fighting Bull, bull named Avispado at the Pozoblanco bullring. During his career, he ...

", Julio Aparicio, Curro Girón,

Paco Camino Francisco Camino Sánchez (; 14 December 1940 – 29 July 2024), known in the bullfighting world as Paco Camino (), was a Spanish bullfighter and bull breeder. A bullfighter of the highest order, he dominated tauromachy and was twelve times bor ...

and the mounted bullfighter, Juan Cañedo, who is of Mexican origin, fought the bulls of Félix Rodríguez, "Achury Vejo" and "Ambaló", who all originated in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Heavy rainfall impeded the first run, resulting in two runs being held on the second day: one in the morning hours and the other during the afternoon; it was the first time this had happened in the same arena in Venezuela. Previously in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

there had been two runs on the same day, but in two different arenas, the "Circo Metropolitano" and the "Nuevo Circo". In December 1968, the fair wasn't celebrated, though bullfighting did occur on 13 April 1968 on the occasion of

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday (), also known as Great and Holy Saturday, Low Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday, Saturday of the Glory, Easter Eve, Joyous Saturday, the Saturday of Light, Good Saturday, or Black Saturday, among other names, is t ...

. A stupendous closing was fought by "Dosgutiérrez", Alfredo Leal, Curro Girón and Pepe Cáceres. Then it was decided to celebrate these fairs so that they coincided with the carnivals already known as ''Feria del Sol''; thus in 1969 the first bullfighting carnival took place with three run of bulls, on 15–17 February. The first poster consisted of bulls of "Valparaíso" for Alfredo Leal, Daniel "Matatoba" Santiago, Manuel Benítez "El Cordobés" and the

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

Lucio Requena. The first ear of the fair was for Alfredo Leal. Reina_del_Sol_2009_-_02

Since then, the fair has developed into one of the most important fairs of Venezuela, as well as the taurine world. The fair of the "Immaculate" was celebrated in 1990, 1991, and 1997, but with very little acceptance.

Bibliography

*Guide EDT/Lonely Planet, ''Venezuela'', EDT srl, 2007, *Susan Brushaber, Arnold Greenberg, ''Venezuela Alive'', (Alive Guides Series, Hunter Travel Guides), Hunter Publishing, Inc, 1998

References

External links

Official Website of the Feria del Sol

Second Official Website of the Feria del Sol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feria del Sol (Merida) Carnivals in Venezuela Bullfighting in Venezuela Annual events in Venezuela