Bull Running and Big Heads - San Fermín 2011

Vast crowds gathered yesterday in the city of Pamplona in the Navarre region of northern Spain to mark the beginning of La Fiesta de San Fermín, the country’s most renowned festival. A week of festivities kicked off at midday when a rocket called the “Chupinazo” was launched from the city hall in front of thousands of people, and will end at midnight on the 14th when in the same square the traditional folk song, “Pobre de mí”, will be sung by candlelight.

San Fermín’s flagship event is the “Encierro”, the running of the bulls that takes place at 8 am on every morning of the fiesta. Six bulls and six steers are let loose along an 800 meter course through the old town as a means of transporting the animals to the bullring for the fights that take place in the afternoons. Anyone brave enough can run along the course with the bulls, a practise that is highly dangerous having taken the lives of 15 people since 1925, the most recent death was in 2009, hundreds more runners are injured each year. In spite of what most people view as insanity and opposition from animal rights groups, the event is ever popular.

La Fiesta de San Fermín is an opportunity for the Basque people from the Navarre region to express their cultural heritage, with traditional sports competitions and giants and big heads parades taking place every day. However, San Fermín has transcended the region and has by far the biggest international reputation of any fiesta; nowadays 1 million people from all over the world flock to the city to experience the atmosphere, the events are even broadcast live on Spanish TV each day. “¡Viva San Fermín! ¡Gora San Fermín!”