Great Pamplona Bull Run

The Bull Run Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, Navarra - is an annual religious festivity celebrated from July 7 to 14. This event has been known internationally for its annual bull run; a spectacle, whose intensity is hard to duplicate anywhere else in the world. The bulls are made to run through the streets of Pamplona, to a site where a bullfight ensues later on in the day.

This fiesta is celebrated in honor of the Catholic saint, San Fermin, the patron saint of Navarra. This international event gathers multitudes of people from all around the globe. These festivities have always been described as: one exhilarating fun, non-stop partying, and euphoric excitement, to all of its participants. The bull run, despite of its inherent dangers is really the heart and soul of the Sanfermines fiesta.

Among the highlights of the festivities are as follows:

1. Launching of the Rockets

The start of the bull run heads off when the church bells of San Fermin strikes at eight o'clock in the morning of July 7. The people who have gathered around the casa, awaits the announcement of the mayor that the fiesta is about to begin. After the announcement, a rocket is fired marking the start of the celebration!

This first rocket also signifies that the gates have now been opened, and that the bull run is about to start.. Runners, with red scarves around their necks pray for a safe run to San Fermin, at this juncture. A second rocket would announce that the bull run have started with the runners following the route towards the bullring. A third launching would further announce that the bulls have now entered the bullring. A fourth and fifth rocket would be fired to signify that all the bulls have now been contained in the bullpen of the building, and that the bull run had ended.

2. The Pamplona Bull Run

The bull run starts at eight o' clock every morning, from the 7th to the 14th of every month of July. Runners should be in the area before the start-off time, to avoid confusion that may ensue later on. The route starts at the corral of Santo Domingo towards the bullring, which is 825 meters away. The average run is three minutes but can last to ten minutes, if some bulls go off track. The bull run starts at Santo Domingo, then passes through the Ayuntamiento Square and continues down the street of Mercaderes. The route would also pass through the dangerous pathways of Duque de Ahumada and the dead-end sections of the route, on the way to the bullring.

3. Running with the Bulls

The immense popularity of the Pamplona bull run had increased the number of participants that take part in the festivities yearly. Running along the bulls, that weighs an average of 700 kg each, poses undue danger to would-be runners. The number of drunks participating during the runs had also increased the risk several times over. There are plenty of watchers and security personnel manning the route, but they can only do so much during the bull run. Accidents have now reached to around fifteen (15) people dead, and two hundred (200) injured, since 1924 when these bull runs started.

4. Excitement in Watching the Pamplona Bull Runs and Bullfights

You can savor the excitement and fun without the dangers posed in joining the actual bull runs. To do this, you need to be early at the site to get the best vantage points along the route. Since the best spots are always taken before sunrise, it would be advisable for you to be at the site before dawn. Or you can watch it at a nearby bar or restaurant which airs it every morning - live on national television.

The tickets to the bullfights are normally pre-sold before the fights. The seating capacity is only for twelve thousand five hundred (12,500) seats - hence, the clamor for said tickets. There may be scalpers that sells tickets around the area, but these would already be at highly exorbitant prices.

The fun that would be experienced by any spectator or participant in these festivities are exhilarating and simply out of this world! Though the adventure may pose some dangers and risk - it is one fun-filled experience to behold that can last you a whole lifetime!

Consolacion S. Miravite is a Certified Public Accountant, Real Estate Broker, Lead Farmer, Trader, Accounting Professor, Free-Lance Writer and Blogger. She has written for several companies, institutions and website owners on topics ranging from - Finance, Accountancy, Computers, e-Commerce, Online marketing, Crafts, Relationships, and others.