I think that unless you have been to Pamplona during San Fermin, I will not be able to paint a vivid enough picture with words to explain just how huge and crazy and exciting the whole event is. It is the biggest celebration I have ever seen in terms of numbers of people, area the festival covers, amount of bars in every street, volume of alcohol consumed, size of rubbish piles in the morning, number of bands marching through the streets, scale of fireworks displays, and of course, the incredible excitement and danger of the main attraction.
And this takes place, not just over a few hours, or a single day, like the Tomatina that I attended last year, but goes on, absolutely non-stop for over a week. Day and night, sleep and awake, drunk and sober, terrified and elated all merge into one week long whirl of sensory overload that is hard to process.
This video, like most of my pictures, can only capture a small part of what San Fermin is, but I hope it gives you a bit of a taste. Believe me, if there is one thing you really should experience at least once in your life, this really is it.
Viva San Fermin!
And below, with kind permission from “Running of the Bulls” and www.rtve.es are the bull runs from the eight days of the festival.
Day 4 is the run which resulted in the unfortunate death. I ran on days 2 and 4:
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 1 – Tues 7th July 2009
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 2 – Wed 8th July 2009
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 3 – Thur 9th July 2009
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 4 – Fri 10th July 2009
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 5 – Sat 11th July 2009
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 6 – Sun 12th July 2009
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 7 – Mon 13th July 2009
Running of the Bulls, San Fermin, Pamplona
Day 8 – Tues 14th July 2009