San Fermin Festival In Pamplona , Spain

San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain
The San Fermin festival in northern Spain, held since 1591, attracts tens of thousands of foreign visitors each year for nine days of revelry, bull runs and bullfights. The bulls are released on to the streets each morning and hundreds of people are chased along an 825-metre course leading to the arenas where bullfights are staged in the afternoons.

The festival of San Fermin, or the Pamplona bull running as it's more commonly known outside Spain officially begins at midday on 6th July every year with the 'chupinazo' which takes place on the balcony of the Casa Consistorial in Pamplona. Thousands of people congregate in the square awaiting the mayor's official announcement that the fiestas have begun, a rocket is launched and the partying begins.The history of the bullrunning in Pamplona is not clear. There is evidence of the festival from as far back as the 13th century when it seems the events took place in October as this coincided with the festival of San Fermin on October 10th. It seems that the modern day celebration has evolved from this as well as individual commercial and bullfighting fiestas which can be traced back to the 14th century.

Over many years the mainly religious festival of San Fermin was diluted by music, dancing, bullfights and markets such that the Pamplona Council proposed that the whole event be moved to July 7th when the weather is far more conducive to such a celebration. To this day San Fermin remains a fixed date every year with the first bullrun at 8am on July 7th and the last at the same time on July 14th.

The Bull Run

The Pamplona bull run takes place at 8am every morning from 7th to 14th July. Runners must be in the running area by 7.30am. The actual run stretches from the corral at Santo Domingo where the bulls are kept, to the bullring where they will fight that same afternoon. The length of the run is 825 metres and the average time of the run from start to finish is about three minutes. The streets through the old town which make up the bull run are walled off so the bulls can't escape. Each day six fighting bulls run the route as well as two herds of bullocks.

The tension builds as the release of the bulls approaches and at 8am on the dot a rocket is fired to confirm that the gate has been opened at the Santo Domingo corral. Runners dressed in white with a red hankerchief around their necks pray to San Fermin then a second rocket announces that the bulls have left. The bulls and the runners then proceed along the route.

Watching the Bull Run

Yo u can s tand behi nd the fences t ha t mark th e ro ute of the bullrun but you need to arrive by around 6.30am to get the b est spots on the top of the fence directly overlooking the run. Another good spot is in front of the museum on c/ Santo Domingo where there isn't a fence but the bes t spots here are usually taken before 6am leaving you with a cold two hour wait before the run starts.

Sanfermin Festival Video:

Bullfight Tickets

Tickets for the bullfights are sold out well in advance as the arena only holds 12,500 people. Every evening after the day's bullfight some tickets go on sale for the next evening's event at the 'taquillas' at the bull ring. You'll usually find ticket touts operating around the Plaza de Toros during the day and before the bullfight selling at elevated prices.

Pamplona Accommodation

Pamplona Hotels are very difficult to book at short notice. If you're planning on going for this event then consider booking upto twelve months in advance. An alternative to staying in Pamplona is to stay in a hotel in San Sebastian and make the early morning trip to the bull run from there.