Run With The Bulls In Spain With First Festival Travel

Pamplona. San Fermin. Running with the Bulls. Whatever you call it, this festival is one of the most traditional and unique celebrations in the world.

Known locally as Sanfermines in honour of Saint Fermin, this legendary festival is often perceived in a negative and often controversial light, however one should not judge until they have travelled to Pamplona and been involved in this time-honoured tradition and felt the national sense of Spanish pride.

The celebration takes place every year in San Fermin from 6^th – 14th July and there is far more involved than just a solid week of bull fighting. For nine days every July, this small and proud city turns into a sea of red and white as hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world gather to celebrate the Spanish culture with music, food, bull running, sporting contests, fireworks, and best of all, sangria fights!

At midday on the 6^th day of July, the famous Opening Ceremony begins. This day alone is worth heading to Spain for! First things first: look the part. The entire city dresses in white trousers and matching tops. A pannulo (red bandana) is traditionally tied around the wrist until midday, thrown in the air at the start of the festival and then tied around the neck for the remainder of the fiesta.

Position yourself in one of two places for the celebrations: in front of the Town Hall – for those who are brave enough and are not sufferers of large crowds, or in the Plaza Del Castillo for a less crammed but still lively atmosphere. Wherever area you decide to stand for that first ‘bang’ known as the ‘txupinazo’or  ‘firework rocket’, you find yourself surrounded by singing, dancing and drinking. The crowds then spill out into the plaza from the tiny narrow streets and the nine day non-stop party has officially begun. Those brand new white clothes very quickly become soaked in sangria… Viva San Fermin!

Running with the bulls… the ‘encierro’ is the most well-known event of the San Fermin festivities. The first Bull Run takes place at 8am on the 7^th July (yep, the morning after that huge night of partying) and runners need to position themselves well before 7.30am when the roads are fenced off. Once a runner has made that decision, there isn’t much choice but to go through with it. The event of the bull running evolved much later than the actual fiestas, which began around the 13th and 14th centuries and involved young men testing their courage by running in front of the herd as they were led through the city to the bull ring for fighting. Gradually this became more popular and by 1867 the bull running custom was officially included in the San Fermin festival.

The great American writer and Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Ernest Hemmingway, was a huge contributor to the global popularity of San Fermin. The author of ‘The Sun Also Rises’ (1926) was a regular visitor to Pamplona and often took part in the bull running, encouraging people from all over the world to experience the fiesta of Pamplona and live for themselves the emotions he witnessed and described. It was this contribution which turned a small hometown festival into one of the most famous festivals in the world.

We agree with Hemingway, this festival of Pamplona is an unforgettable experience that you simply can’t describe in words. Why not visit Pamplona, in the beautiful Navarra region of Northern Spain, with First Festival Travel this summer? Spend your days leisurely eating tapas, throwing and drinking sangria, lounging by the pool, and of course, participating in the celebration of San Fermines with friends, old and new.

First Festival Travel is the most experienced and respected operator of tours to Pamplona. With the largest campsite, the best facilities, the biggest parties, and easily the greatest variety of tour options to suit whatever your travel plans, you are in very safe hands.

Visit www.firstfestivaltravel.com/Pamplona-Tours for more information of First Festival Travel’s Running of the Bulls package!

By bucketlistBK