The bell tolls - eight chimes. A fuse is lit and a rocket takes off. The pen doors open and out burst 12 behemoths - six bulls and six steers - working their pace up to a gallop, hooves thundering on the cobbled streets. On cue, throngs of white-clad runners begin to sprint. They glance back, ready to dodge the charging beasts' piked horns with balletic moves defying a gory demise. Enraptured onlookers cheer on from balconies above. Thousands of revelers pack the Consistorial square as they wait for the rocket launch (Chupinazo) that announces the opening of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, Spain, July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Susana Vera It's the feast of St Fermin, the famed bull-running festival that engulfs downtown Pamplona every July when revellers from around the globe descend...
Read MoreTag: Pamplona
Thousands party in Pamplona as firework blast begins San Fermin bull-running festival
Tens of thousands of people packed the town hall square in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona on Thursday to celebrate the traditional “chupinazo” firework blast that starts the San Fermín bull-running festival. Revellers dressed in red and white fill the town hall square during the 'Chupinazo' rocket, to mark the official opening of the 2023 San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona, Spain, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) Nearly everyone, including many tourists, was dressed in the traditional garb of white trousers and shirt with red sash and neckerchief as they sang and shouted. As the rocket was fired, many doused each other with red or sparkling wine. The highlight of the nine-day festival is the early morning “encierros,” or bull runs, starting on Friday, wh...
Read MoreA tense fifth bull run at Pamplona’s San Fermín Festival on Monday left three people gored, including one American, and three others with bruises, the Navarra regional government said. It was the first run with gorings in the festival so far this year. There are three more daily runs before the festival ends Thursday. A fighting bull charges against runners during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, Monday, July 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) The regional government said a 25-year-old runner from Sunrise, Florida, was gored in the calf in the bullring. The other two gored were Spaniards, one in the ring and one on the street. None was in serious condition. Earlier festival organizers had said erroneously that the foreigner g...
Read MoreThousands of revellers wearing white clothes and red scarves filled the streets of Spain's Pamplona on Wednesday as the bang of a firecracker kicked off the first San Fermin bull-running festival since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. A light rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of a sea of people packing the northern city's Townhall Square, their clothes already drenched with the red wine and sangria that flow freely during the eight-day festival, made famous by Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises". Revellers gather during the opening of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, July 6, 2022. REUTERS/Vincent West The annual event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to coronavirus restrictions. Animal rights groups want it banned for good. "I've been to San Fermin man...
Read MoreSpain’s San Fermin festival, which attracts tourists from all over the world for the running of the bulls through the streets of Pamplona, will be cancelled for the second year in a row because of COVID-19, the regional head said on Tuesday. But amid much disagreement and handwringing across Spain over how strict pandemic restrictions should be, Pamplona’s mayor was quick to say no decision had yet been made. FILE PHOTO: A countdown clock and traditional red scarves are seen on balconies along the 875-meter course of the running of the bulls from a corral to the bullring, at Estafeta street during the San Fermin festival which was cancelled due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Pamplona, Spain July 7, 2020. REUTERS/Jon Nazca “An international festival like San Fe...
Read More
You must be logged in to post a comment.