July 6, 2017

At noon today, July 6, fireworks, wild cheers, and singing will announce the beginning of the raucous San Fermín Festival at the Plaza Consistorial in the northern Spanish town of Pamplona (also called Iruña). The annual nine-day fiesta is known for its bullfights, its signature red-and-white outfits, and its rowdy celebrations. It is most famous, however, for the morning bull runs through the city streets—events collectively called the “Running of the Bulls,” or El Encierro in Spanish.

People run from the bulls during the San Fermín Festival in Pamplona, Spain, on July 14, 2013. Credit: © Migel/Shutterstock

The first bull run begins tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. At that time, rockets will signal the opening of a bull pen gate in Pamplona’s old quarter. The six bulls scheduled for that day’s fights (and a handful of steers or oxen) then spill out of the pen and into the streets. Driven from behind, the bulls meet crowds of people on the fenced-off course, and the 930-yard (850-meter) race to the plaza de toros (bullring) is on. In just a few breathtaking minutes, the bulls rumble through the streets as people sprint and dodge and duck and tumble to get out of the way. The barricaded and walled paths quickly funnel the bulls through the entrance to the bullring, where the bulls are eventually guided into waiting pens. The event is repeated each day until the festival’s end on July 14.

Pamplona, host of the famous San Fermín Festival, lies in far northern Spain near the French border. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Many more people watch the spectacle from balconies and barricades than actually participate in the running of the bulls, which is highly dangerous. Runners risk being trampled or gored, and the bulls may fall down or become injured. Some animal rights organizations oppose this tradition, as well as the bullfights themselves. The festival and running of the bulls remain popular, however, and attract people from all over the world.

The running of the bulls, or el encierro, precedes bullfights later in the day. In this photograph, matadors and their assistants enter a bullring before a bullfight. Credit: © Alamy Images

Spanish celebrations involving bull-running or bullfighting date back to at least the 1000’s. Pamplona’s Fiesta de San Fermín has included such activities since 1591. The festival honors San Fermín, the patron saint of Pamplona and of Spain’s northern Navarre (Navarra) region. In addition to bull-running and bullfighting, the festival’s activities include dancing, fireworks, music concerts, and parades. Pamplona’s encierros and corridas (bullfights) enthralled American writer Ernest Hemingway, who first came to the San Fermín Festival in the early 1920’s. His novel The Sun Also Rises—which takes place partly in Pamplona—made the festival and its running of the bulls world famous.