Our Spanish students get ready for Saint Thomas Fair

Tomorrow (21st December) is the Day of Saint Thomas, one of the Basque Country’s most important annual festivals.

It is thought that the festival’s origins can be traced back to a people’s market, which would take place on that day every year. Farmers would come down from the mountain to the city to pay their annual rent to the landowners, and since the date was so close to Christmas. They would bring their best crops and animals to give as presents to their landlords, and to sell in the market.

Saint Thomas Fair has been celebrated as we now know it since 1945. El Arenal and the Casco Viejo are already full of stalls, where you can try, among other things, talo con chorizo a la sidra (a traditional Basque dish of cider-cooked chorizo, wrapped in a tortilla-like talo), with a glass of sparkling txakolí. The festival is great fun for all ages, and represents a fantastic opportunity to find out about Basque traditions; many people go to the fair dressed in traditional Basque clothing, and traditional Basque music is played live around the city.

Tomorrow, Instituto Hemingway will take all our students to the fair. We’re looking forward to a great afternoon spent in good company, to learning more about the culture of Bilbao and to practicing Spanish, or even Basque.

Don’t miss it, we’ll see you there!