Feria del Sol

What it is

Feria del Sol means Fair of the Sun. It is an international cultural festival held each February in Mérida, Venezuela, at the same time as carnival, and a longer name for it is Carnaval Taurino de América, the bullfighting carnival of America. Its centre is the Plaza de Toros, the bullring, where bull competitions are fought. Around them the city puts on cultural and commercial expositions, zootechnic displays of breeding animals, concerts, parades and sporting events. A voting competition chooses La Reina del Sol, the Queen of the Sun.

Origins and history

Mérida, sometimes called the City of the Knights, had its own history to celebrate but no fair of the kind known in San Cristóbal, Barquisimeto, Maracaibo or Táriba. A group of amateurs therefore set about building a bullring, so that the city would have a bullfighting calendar and a fair among the country's most important. The first date chosen was 9 and 10 December, near the feast of the Immaculate Conception. December 1968 passed without a fair, though bulls were fought on Holy Saturday, 13 April that year. The organisers then tied the event to carnival, and the first bullfighting carnival ran from 15 to 17 February 1969.

Bulls and bullfighters

Early posters carried names that drew crowds: César Faraco, Manuel Benítez, known as El Cordobés, Francisco Rivera, known as Paquirri, Julio Aparicio, Curro Girón and Paco Camino. Juan Cañedo, a mounted bullfighter of Mexican origin, also appeared. The bulls came from the ranches of Félix Rodríguez, Achury Vejo and Ambaló, all in Colombia. In 1969 the poster set Valparaíso bulls for Alfredo Leal, Daniel Santiago, called Matatoba, El Cordobés and the Venezuelan Lucio Requena. Leal took the fair's first ear. Rain cut short one opening day, so two runs were fought the next day, morning and afternoon, a first for a single arena in Venezuela.

Today and change

The fair has become one of the most important in Venezuela and is known in the bullfighting world too. Its place in February, tied to carnival, has stayed. Not every later attempt found favour. A separate fair of the Immaculate was held in 1990, 1991 and 1997 and met with little acceptance. Meanwhile the rest of the programme, exhibitions of culture and commerce, breeding animals, concerts, parades and sports, grew around the fights, and the public vote for La Reina del Sol kept its place in the schedule.

How Feria del Sol is kept

Residents and visitors fill Mérida in February, when the fair runs at the same time as carnival. Parades and concerts open the programme. Cultural, commercial and zootechnic exhibitions stay open through the days. Bullfights take place in the Plaza de Toros, with the names of fighters and of ranch bulls printed on the poster. Sporting events run alongside. Candidates for La Reina del Sol, the Queen of the Sun, are put to a public vote, and the winner is announced during the fair.

When and where

The fair is held every year in February, and since 1969 it has been fixed to the days of carnival. It opened on 15 February 1969 and ran for three days then. An earlier plan put it in December, on the 9th and 10th, near the feast of the Immaculate Conception, but that arrangement was dropped.

It belongs to Mérida, a city in Venezuela sometimes called the City of the Knights, and it is the city's own fair. The bullring built for it gives Mérida a place in the country's bullfighting calendar, a calendar that also includes San Cristóbal, Barquisimeto, Maracaibo and Táriba. The festival is described as international and draws visitors from outside the city.

What Feria del Sol means

For Mérida the fair answers an old absence. The city had its history and its name, but not the yearly fair that other Venezuelan cities took for granted. Building a bullring and filling February with fights, shows and parades gave it a date of its own. The Queen of the Sun, chosen by public vote, gives the festival a face. For those who follow bullfighting, the fair is a fixed point in the taurine year, the season of the bulls.

Questions people ask about Feria del Sol

See also

ColeoA Venezuelan and Colombian sport where riders chase cattle to snatch tails and pull them down.Midnight MassThe first service of Christmas, kept late on Christmas Eve in many Western churchesMerengueA fast-paced folk dance and music tradition born in the Dominican RepublicColumbus DayAn annual autumn holiday marking the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas

Good reading and sources

• Feria del Sol (Mérida) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.