Type of Holiday: Sporting
Date of Observation: Week that includes July 7
Where Celebrated: Pamplona, Spain
Symbols and Customs: Bull, Running of the Bulls, Safety Barriers

ORIGINS

The Feast of San Fermin was originally observed in Pamplona, Spain, on October 10 with
prayers and a procession in honor of the city's patron saint. But in 1591 the Pamplona
city council proposed to the Church that the celebration be transferred to July 7, to
coincide with a fair that was traditionally held in the city and that featured the running of
bulls through the streets. Some scholars believe that this was a deliberate attempt to
link the saint's name to an event that was an entirely secular celebration, while others
believe that the date was changed simply to take advantage of the summer weather. In
any case, as time went on, the fair declined in importance while the RUNNING OF THE
BULLS became the most prominent feature of the day's events.

Today, the start of the San Fermin Festival is announced with a gun fired from the
balcony of the town hall. Bands of txistularis (a Basque word pronounced cheestoo-LAH-
rees)-with dancers, drummers, and txistu (a musical instrument similar to a flute)
players-march through the town and its suburbs playing songs announcing the RUNNING
OF THE BULLS , an event that has now been part of the festival for more than 400
years. At 8:00 a.m., the bulls are allowed to run from the corrals in which they are kept
through the streets to the bullring. Before them run the young men of the city, often
accompanied by tourists who have come to Pamplona to risk their lives and display their
bravery. When the bulls reach the arena, the running ends and they are locked up in
their pens until the bullfight takes place later in the day. Although the race lasts barely
five minutes, participants are frequently injured and occasionally killed by the
stampeding animals.

The killing of the BULL didn't become an official part of the San Fermin Festival until the
end of the seventeenth century. Up to that time, the bull was simply run until he was
exhausted and of no further use. Then he was taken back to the corral and eventually
returned to the country to recover from any injuries he might have suffered. Nowadays,
the bull usually falls victim to a professional bullfighter in the bullring.

The San Fermin Festival received a huge boost in popularity after the publication of
Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, in which the RUNNING OF THE BULLS at
Pamplona is described in vivid detail. Thousands of people now come to Pamplona in July
to watch from behind the wooden barriers that line the streets to the arena as the bulls
are prodded and taunted until they are ready to charge anyone or anything that stands
in their way.

Full story:
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/San+Fermin+Festival

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