Pamplona: The Running Of The Bulls Fest Is Back!

Remember those scenes in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara where Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar and Hrithik Roshan run ahead of rampaging bulls in Pamplona?

The Running of the Bulls fest -- the Festival of San Fermín -- resumed in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain on July 6, 2022, for the first time in two years since the pandemic interrupted lives.

The festival, which was first celebrated in 1400 AD, honours the memory of Fermin, a 3rd century Pamplona bishop who was martyred for his beliefs and dragged through the streets in front of bulls.

The week of festivities, which ends on July 14, sees chupinazo or fireworks and world-famous encierro or running of the bulls and ends with the singing of Pamploneses, Viva San Fermín, Gora San Fermín or People of Pamplona, Long Live Saint Fermín.

Glimpses from Day 1 of the fiesta:

IMAGE: And that's how the festival opens. Plenty of Calimocho, a mixture of coke and red wine, is drunk. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

IMAGE: Happy revellers toss each other in the air. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

IMAGE: Wine-bathing happens too. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

IMAGE: Wine, song and much more happiness than usual after two years of cancellation of the festival because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photograph: Vincent West/Reuters

IMAGE: Waving the signature Pamplona red scarves. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

IMAGE: San Fermin attracted huge crowds of thousands and thousands, in traditional red-and-white garb, on its kick-off day July 6. Photograph: Vincent West/Reuters

IMAGE: Musicians lustily perform during the festival's symbolic, heart-warming comparsa de gigantes y cabezudos or Parade of the Giants and Big Heads. Photograph: Vincent West/Reuters

IMAGE: Revellers run with the Fire Bull, a man carrying a bull figure packed with fireworks, on the festival's first day which is all about firecrackers. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com

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