26 TRAVEL
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Issue 44 / 2012
The 6th July every year, in the Spanish city of Pamplona, sees the beginning of a nine day, festival where locals and tourists congregate to drink, celebrate and mainly just get messy.
SAN FERMIN
At midday when a rocket is launched in the town centre, everyone will have already flocked to the streets wearing entirely white clothing with only a single red neck scarf to add a bit of colour. Streamers are thrown and around a litre of wine or sangria will probably rain down on you, depending on what your neighbours are drinking. The festival is set out to celebrate Saint Fermin, with over a million revellers from all over the world coming to take part.
All the bars open their doors to blast music into the street and serve two pint plastic cups of beer and sangria until the early hours. This is the point when the drunks think: "Fuck it, shall we just run with the bulls?" At 8am every morning, bulls run through the streets of Pamplona from their pens to the bullfighting ring where they are held until the evening bullfight. Thousands of people congregate to either try and outrun the bulls or watch drunken people get knocked off their feet by a 3,000lb bull. Anyone over the age of 18 can take part in the run and people can watch from boarded off streets, balconies or from the stadium itself. The stadium charges entry and provides half an hour of 'entertainment', which actually involves watching those running try to grab the bull by its horns or pull its tail.
After the bullrun, the party continues in the streets with nightly fireworks and concerts until midnight on 14th July, when the red scarves come off and everyone mourns the loss of the festival by lighting a single candle.The last night is the biggest night of the festival, with everyone getting the most they can out of it until the following year.
