Every year from noon of the 6th of July to the midnight of 14th of July, the Spanish city of Pamplona comes alive as the locals celebrate their much awaited Fiesta of San Fermin in honor of their region’s patron saint. People from all over the world flock to Pamplona during the fiesta not to pay homage to its patron saint, but to party and to witness or take part in the fiesta’s world famous tradition – the encierro or the “Running of the Bulls.” It’s sheer madness!
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The arrival of our train from Barcelona was delayed and we just missed Chupinazo, the wild opening ceremony of Fiesta of San Fermin (“Sanfermines” to locals). During this ceremony, a pyrotechnic rocket is set off at exactly 12 noon from the town hall to signal the start of the 9-day fiesta as the huge crowd gathered around celebrate by drinking and spraying cava (a Spanish sparkling wine) to everyone around them.
With their red and white fiesta uniforms all soaked in cava and sangria, the revelers just spread out from the town hall plaza to the narrow streets of the city center by the time we arrived. Somehow I was glad we missed the Chupinazo, Keith and I were the only ones with dry fiesta uniforms in the old town.
Revelers filled every street of the old city center.
The fiesta animals!
Three down…. It was only about two hours from the start of the festival but some people already had too much to imbibe and crashed on the ground.
Keith was in full fiesta spirit and was “bullying” with the locals.
Partying with an angry bull.
Friendly locals invited us to party with them.
Locals await the opening day of the fiesta all year long. They have a digital countdown of the festival somewhere in the old town.
Partying goes all night long into the wee hours of the morning and into the day.
The day one of the running of the bulls.
Spectators and runners started lining up the route at 6:30 am on the first day of the running of the bulls that was to start at 8:00 am.
A lot of these spectators were up partying all night. As you can see, most of them are soaked in sangria.
Keith checking out the crowds from our rented balcony on Mercaderes Street.
Most of the balconies along the running route are rented for viewing. It’s the best spot to view the event.
By 7:30 am, the crowd thickened. Both runners and spectators filled the street of Mercaderes.
Watching the crowd and feeling the energy from our rented balcony.
Anxious runners.
The police gathered both runners and spectators at their right places as the run was about to start. The cobbled street was just hosed down and was very wet, making it more dangerous for the runners.
At this point, the runners were waiting to hear two shots: the first was to warn them that the gates of the corral was being opened and the second was to alert them that the six bulls were released and out on the street.
The second shot was heard and the tension ensued. Run!
Holy bull! Here they come, one ton each and charging fast!
The earlier surge of high tension seemed to subside. There was only one person running at this point. Runners are supposed to run fast ahead of the bulls or alongside the bulls, but instead most runners stopped, stepped aside and watched the bulls go pass them.
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Bulls charging past the “timid” runners.
After the bulls passed, the runners seemed to build some courage and started to run.
Running AFTER the bulls! 
Boo…..
A little later the steers, a pack of tamed bulls, were released to collect any strayed bulls from the wild pack. Bulls become nervous and turned dangerous when separated from the pack. Most runners that were injured were due to aggression of strayed bulls.
This guy probably got so scared that instead of running horizontally away from the bulls he run vertically.
The more than three-minute run on the half-mile course concludes at Plaza de Toros, where the bulls are corralled until the bullfight in the evening. However, the bulls are released one at a time to go wild in the ring amidst the crazy runners.
We took our place at Plaza de Toros. Anyone can get in for free for this event.
A bull was finally released and jumped over the runners. This part was more insane than the actual run.
The bull chasing the runners.
Lucky for the runners, the horns of this set of bulls were corked so they were not in danger of being gored, but they can be in danger of being thrown high up in the air.
Lucky the bull lifted you instead of kicking you high up in the air.
Some butts were not protected.
Tjhe amused crowd in the stand.
The Bullfight
The bullfight during Sanfermines is the continuation of the Running of the Bulls and is held every 6:30 pm at Plaza de Toro. All the bulls that run in the morning will seal their sad fate in the hands of matadors in the evening:(
The bullfights are always well attended. There are two sections in the bullring – the sol y sombra – the sun and shade. The shade section where we were seated is more expensive but a lot more comfortable as we were not exposed to the strong heat of the sun. The bullfight aficionados are said to sit in the sombre section as the spectators here are more “behaved” and they can watch without any distraction.
However, if you seek a more fun, party atmosphere you may want to get a seat in the sol section where the different “Peñas” are gathered. “Peñas” are clubs that are formed solely for the enjoyment of the Sanfermines. Wearing their club’s distintinve outfits – they drink, they sing, they chant – they’re wild!
The parade of the matadors.
The parade of the horses.
And the bullfight began… I had no idea how extremely cruel bullfighting was until I saw the actual fight. Very upset and disturbed, I put away my camera shortly after the start of the first fight and cried. Needless to say, I’m now an advocate of the “Stop the Bullfight” campaign!
Third day of the Running of the Bull
Still party time at 6:00 am as we head to our rented balcony for our second viewing of the running of the bulls.
The plaza was sadly trashed after all night partying. The sanitation crew would come to clean the area but only to be trashed again.
They called it a night at 6:30 am.
Watching the runners gathered on Estefeta Street from our rented balcony.
Runners on Estefeta Street, the longest stretch on the course.
Runners started to sprint as the bulls made the turn from the dangerous “Dead Man’s Curve.”
Feeling all the tensions and chaos on the street.
This time the runners didn’t disappoint; they ran alongside the bulls.
A lot of the backpackers didn’t even bother renting rooms. They slept on the ground, stored their luggage in the bus station and bathed in public showers.
Partying during the night, sleeping during the day.
This was our parting shot of Pamplona from the bus station as we were leaving for San Sebastian. The festival was lot of fun, a lot of madness and very sadly, a lot of trash. After 4 days of wild fiesta, we were ready for the calmness of San Sebastian.
And more sadly, most visitors don’t realize that there is more to the Fiesta of San Fermin than the drinking party and the running of the bulls. Please see – Pamplona Part 2: It’s not all about the Running of the Bulls.
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Travel Tips:
- To rent a balcony for the running of the bulls, go to http://www.bullbalcony.com.
- Remember that the fiesta goes on 24 hours a day and staying in the old city center may deprive you of a good sleep. For a peaceful and comfortable accommodation, we recommend Hotel Zenit Pamplona. It is a modern boutique hotel 5 minutes away from the city center and away from the chaos. The hotel provides a shuttle to and from the fiesta. The hotel will also provide you with the red fiesta scarf. (Note that hotel rates quaruple during the fiesta).
- Bring your white fiesta outfit from home; it will be expensive to buy them in Pamplona. Bring the cheap ones that you don’t mind discarding after the fiesta as no outfit is free from drink and food stains during the fiesta.
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I enjoyed it! Your photos captured the fiesta atmosphere of Pamplona. I knew it was a crazy event; but didn’t realize it was that crazy, especially the drinking binge part. Looking forward to Pamplona Part 2 post.
Hi Kira, glad you enjoyed it. It was crazy indeed, but it was a lot of fun.
Nice photoessay. Love the photos of the second running of the bulls. It depicts the tension of the event. The first day of the running of the bulls was quite funny; you were right about the tension going pfffft as the the runners stopped running and got “timid. ” I could tell they were nervous.
Hello Craig, thanks! The people during the first of the run were mostly tourist and didn’t seem to know what to do and yes, they definitely looked nervous. Locals normally run in latter part of the fiesta after all the tourist are gone.
Love your photos and narratives. I felt like I attended the fiesta with you.
Hi Jan., thanks! I hope you enjoyed the fiesta:)
Great set of pics! If I attended, I would want to watch from the safety of a balcony as well
Scott – Quirky Travel Guy recently posted..Rental car mishaps and a gun-wielding, duck-loving cab driver in Seward, Alaska
Hi Scott, thanks. I think you will be running in the streets instead of watching from the balcony:)
Wow! I felt I just came from Pamplona! Thanks for transporting me to the Pamplona fiesta. Beautiful photo documentary guys. I love what you capture in each fame. Marisol, sorry about the bullfight. It must be that cruel for you to get that upset.
Hi Carrie, we’re glad you enjoyed the fiestas! Yes, I still feel so upset everytime I think about the bullfight.
Oh my God, love your shots and captions about those “timid” runners. Funny how they looked so tensed and nervous after the initial rush of testerone display. Must be tourists, right?
Hi Dani, Yes, most of the guys who run during the first few days are tourists. Most locals run at the end of the festivals after the tourists have left.