The festival of San Fermín is a week-long, traditional celebration held annually in the city of
Pamplona, Navarre,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The celebrations start at noon on 6 July and continue until midnight on 14 July. A firework (''chupinazo'') starts the celebrations and the popular song is sung at the end.
The most known event of the festival is the
running of the bulls
A running of the bulls (, from the verb ''encerrar'', 'to corral, to enclose'; , literally 'haste, momentum'; 'bulls in the street', or 'bull-runner') is an event that involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typically six Fiske ...
, which begins at 8 am each day on 7–14 July, but the festival involves many other traditional and
folkloric
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material ...
events. It is known locally as ''Sanfermines'' in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
and ''Sanferminak'' in
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
and is held in honour of
Saint Fermin
Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish ''Fermín'') was a holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. He was born in the mid 3rd century, so his death may be associated with the Diocletia ...
, the co-patron of
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
.
History
Saint Fermín
Fermín is said to have been the son of a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
of
senatorial
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the eld ...
rank in Pamplona in the 3rd century who was converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
by
Saint Honestus
Saint Honestus (, ) was, according to Christian tradition, a disciple of Saturninus of Toulouse and a native of Nîmes.
Saturninus and Honestus evangelized in Spain, and Honestus was martyred at Pampeluna during the persecutions of Aurelian. Elab ...
, a disciple of
Saint Saturninus. According to tradition, he was baptised by Saturninus (in
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
, also known as Saint Cernin) at the spot now known as the "Small Well of Saint Cernin".
Fermín returned to Pamplona as its first bishop. On a later preaching voyage, Fermín was dragged to death; and is now considered a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...
in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
It is believed that he died on September 25, AD 303. There is no written record of veneration of the Saint in Pamplona until the 12th century.
The celebration of the festival has its origins in the combination of two different medieval events.
Commercial secular fairs were held at the beginning of the summer. As cattle merchants came into town with their animals, eventually
bullfighting
Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations.
There are several variations, including some forms wh ...
came to be organised as a part of the tradition.
Specifically, they were first documented in the 14th century. On the other hand, religious ceremonies honouring the saint were held on October 10.
However, in 1591, they were transferred to July 7 to take place at the same time as the fair, when Pamplona's weather was better.
This is considered to be the beginning of the Sanfermines.
During medieval times, the acts included an opening speech, musicians, tournaments, theatre, bullfights, dances or fireworks.
Bullrunning appears in 17th and 18th century, together with the presence of foreigners and the first concerns about excessive drinking and dissolute behaviour during the event.
Finally, the Parade of Giants was created in the mid-19th century.
The first official
bullring
A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are ...
was constructed in 1844.
Modern times

The fame and the number of foreign visitors it receives every year are related to the description in
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
's book ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is the first novel by the American writer Ernest Hemingway, following his experimental novel-in-fragments '' In Our Time (short story collection)'' (1925). It portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Par ...
'' and the reports he made as a journalist.
He first visited in 1923 and returned many times until 1959.
Televisión Española
(acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea.
T ...
(TVE) broadcasts the event live nationwide and internationally on television, its official national radio broadcasters are Radio Nacional and Cadena SER.
The
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
caused the festival to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
One-day events
''Chupinazo''

The opening of the festival is marked by setting off the firework ''chupinazo'' (or ''txupinazo'' in
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
). The rocket was launched at 12:00 noon on 6 July from a city hall balcony, with people celebrating the act in the city hall square and other locations in
Pamplona
Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain.
Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...
.
The ''chupinazo'' marked the beginning of the fiesta since 1941. The person who sets it off is decided by the city mayor.
Since 1979, the tradition has been that each year after city elections, the ''chupinazo'' is set off by a person from the different city council political groups, starting with the mayor and then political groups ordered by number of representatives.
There have been exceptions to this tradition with some non-politicians being in charge of the act when they had performed significant achievements during the year. Examples of these exceptions were a player of the
local football team or the president of the "giants and big-heads" group on its 150th years anniversary.
Following the rocket firing, a pipe band playing percussion and ''
txistu
The txistu () is a kind of fipple flute that became a symbol for the Basque folk revival. The name may stem from the general Basque word ''ziztu'' "to whistle" with palatalisation of the ''z'' (cf ''zalaparta'' > ''txalaparta''). This three-hol ...
s'' played amongst the crowds and then marched off the main square.
Riau-Riau
The Riau-Riau was a mass activity held on 6 July. The members of the city council parade from the City Hall to a nearby chapel dedicated to Saint Fermín with participants dancing to the ''Astrain
Waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...
'' along the way.
The ritual was introduced in 1911 by
Ignacio Baleztena Ascárate.
The procession was removed from the festival calendar in 1992 for the sake of public order, as political activists used the "Riau-Riau" to promote clashes with authorities.
Protesting youths had sometimes blocked the way, and it often took up to five hours for the city councilors to walk the 500 meters to the Saint Fermin chapel. Nevertheless, in recent years, it has been held unofficially without the participation of the members of the city council. In 1996 and 2012, there were two failed attempts to restore the original act with the participation of the city council, both of which were cancelled due to violent clashes with some participants.
Saint Fermín procession
The key day of the festival is July 7 when people accompany the 15th-century statue of
Saint Fermin
Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish ''Fermín'') was a holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. He was born in the mid 3rd century, so his death may be associated with the Diocletia ...
through the old part of Pamplona. The statue is accompanied by dancers and street entertainers, as well as different political and religious authorities including the city mayor and the Bishop of Pamplona, who leads High Mass before the event.
During procession, a ''
Jota
Jota may refer to:
__NOTOC__
* Iota (Ι, ι), the name of the 9th letter in the Greek alphabet;
* (figuratively) ''Something very small'', based on the fact that the letter Iota (lat. i) is the smallest character in the alphabet;
* The name of the ...
'' (an ancient traditional dance) is performed for the saint, a rose is offered in the Saint Fermin well, and the ''gigantes'' (enormous wood-framed and
papier-mâché
file:JacmelMardiGras.jpg, upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti
Papier-mâché ( , , - the French term "mâché" here means "crushed and ground") is a versatile craft technique with roots in ancient China, in which waste paper is s ...
puppet figures managed from inside) dance while the cathedral bell named María (Mary) peals.
Mass is held in the city cathedral, as well as in city parishes.
''Struendo''
''El Struendo'' ("The Roar") is a single-day event with more than 50 years of tradition. It has been purposely left outside the official program and each year is celebrated on a different day, usually a weekday so as to keep the crowds manageable. People gather at 23:59 at the City Hall and make as much noise as possible for several hours with drums, cymbals, bowls, whistles, pans, or other objects.
''Pobre de mí''
After nine days of partying, the people of Pamplona meet in the City Hall Plaza at midnight on July 14, singing the traditional notes of the ''Pobre de mí'' ('Poor Me'). The city mayor then closes the festival with participants lighting a candle and removing their red handkerchiefs as the song is played by the local band, followed by a fireworks display at the city hall. This closing ceremony tradition, which marks the official close of the festivities, started out in the 1920s.
Daily events
Running of the bulls

The
running of the bulls
A running of the bulls (, from the verb ''encerrar'', 'to corral, to enclose'; , literally 'haste, momentum'; 'bulls in the street', or 'bull-runner') is an event that involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typically six Fiske ...
(Spanish: ''encierro'' or ''los toros de san Fermin'') involves hundreds of people running in front of six bulls and another six steers down an stretch of narrow streets of a section of Pamplona. The run ends in
Pamplona's bullring. Bullruns are held between 7 and 14 July and a different "encaste" (sub-breed) of bull appears on each day of the festival.

The event begins at 08:00, when the first
firecracker
A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental to ...
is lit to announce the release of the bulls from their corral. Before the year 1924, it started at 6 and at 7 between 1924 and 1974.
Runners gather earlier at the beginning of the itinerary to ask for the protection of the Saint by singing a chant three times before a small statue of San Fermín which has been placed in a raised niche in a wall, in both Spanish and Basque:
A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro, dándonos su bendición.
Entzun, arren, San Fermin zu zaitugu patroi, zuzendu gure oinak entzierro hontan otoi.
Both of which mean:
To San Fermin, we ask to be our patron saint and to guide us in the running of the bulls, giving us his blessing.
''Viva San Fermin'' and ''Gora San Fermin'' are shouted following the chant. While the chant since 1962 has been sung in Spanish, beginning in 2009, a Basque translation is sung after it.
A second cracker signals that the last bull has left the corral. There are six fighting bulls, accompanied by six
oxen (often white- and brown-coloured) that guide them to the "plaza", followed by three more not-fighting oxen. There are also some shepherds guiding the bulls. Once all of the bulls have entered the arena, a third rocket is released while a fourth firecracker indicates that the bulls are in their bullpens and the run has concluded.
Since 1925, 15 people have been killed during the event—most recently on 10 July 2009—and every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run, although most injuries are non-lethal
contusion
A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur clo ...
s due to falls.
Giants and big-heads parade

Every day, during the morning, there is a parade of ''
gigantes y cabezudos
Processional giants are costumed figures in European folklore, particularly present in Belgian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English folkloric processions. The main feature of these figures is typically their wooden, papier maché or ...
'' (English: "giants and big-heads"), with the giant figures being more than 150 years old. The eight giant figures were built by Tadeo Amorena, a painter from Pamplona, in 1860, and represent four pairs of kings and queens of four different races and places (Europe, Asia, America, and Africa). Their height is around each, and they are carried by a dancer inside a wooden structure.
During the parade, giants dance to the rhythm of traditional music. The remaining 17 figures include 6 ''kilikis'', 5 big-heads, and 6 ''zaldikos'', built at different times between 1860 and 1941. ''Kilikis'' and big-heads are caricaturesque but human-like figures that are carried as helmets. Big-heads masks are up to tall, and ''kilikis'' are slightly smaller. While big-heads precede the giants and wave their hands at spectators, ''kilikis'' run after children, hitting them with a foam truncheon. ''Zaldikos'', figures representing horses with their riders, also run after children with a truncheon.
Traditional sports

There are exhibitions and competitions of
Basque rural sports
Basque rural sports, known as ''Deportes Rurales'' in Spanish language, Spanish or ''Herri Kirolak'' in Basque language, Basque, is the term used for a number of sports competitions rooted in the traditional lifestyles of the Basque people. The t ...
every morning in the
Plaza de los Fueros, a square close to the city citadel, although they were formerly held in the bullring.
Sports include
stone lifting
Lifting stones are heavy natural stones which people are challenged to lift, proving their strength. They are common throughout Northern Europe, particularly Iceland (where they are referred to as ''steintökin''), Scotland, Ireland, Basque Count ...
,
wood cutting, or
hay bale
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...
lifting.
On the other hand, the
Jai alai
Jai alai ( : ) is a Basque sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker, commonly referred to as a ''cesta''. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term ''jai alai'', coined by ...
tournament of Sanfermin is a prestigious competition for this variety of
basque pelota
Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (''frontis or fronto ...
. It is held in one of the
courts
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law.
Courts gene ...
of the city.
Betting is common during these events.
Bullfight
Every afternoon from July 7 to 14, there is a
bullfight
Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations.
There are several variations, including some forms wh ...
in which the 6 bulls that have been driven to the bullring during the bullrunning of that day are killed. It begins at 18:00.
In addition, the fifth bullfight with younger bulls and not fully trained bullfighters is performed while the sixth features bullfighters on horses (Spanish: ''rejoneo'').
The circuit has only changed slightly since 1852, as the former bullring was located close to the present one. Before that date, the bullrunning ended in the "castle plaza".
While the origin of this tradition was the necessity to move the bulls from outside the city to the bullring for the bullfight, it is not clear when citizens began to run in front of them. There are written records from 1787 indicating that the tradition was already well established with no memory of its beginning.
The tradition of singing for protection from the saint dates back to 1962.
Fireworks
Every night at 23:00, a
fireworks
Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...
spectacle is held at the
citadel
A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
...
park. Fireworks spectacles have been known to occur in Sanfermin as far back as 1595. From 2000 to 2019 and since 2022, an international fireworks contest has been held.
Participants watch them while seated on the grass around the citadel.
See also
*
Fiestas of International Tourist Interest of Spain
The title of Fiesta of International Tourist Interest (, , / , ) is an honorary distinction that is given by the General Secretariat of Tourism of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Government of Spain to the fiestas, festivals or ...
Notes
References
External links
Fiesta of San Fermín at Spanish National Television website, RTVE.esThe running of the bulls ''Encierros San Fermín'' Live at 07.15 AM Central European Time, GMT+2Official guide to the fiesta of San Fermín.
Unofficial website on San Fermínan
on encierrophotosanfermin.com San Fermín social networkTips to run in safety and to contribute in preserving the Festival
{{coord missing, Spain
Patronal festivals in Spain
July
Culture of Navarre
Tourist attractions in Navarre
Pamplona
Fermin
Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin language, Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish language, Spanish ''Fermín'') was a holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. He was born in the mid 3rd century, so his death may ...
Basque festivals