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Pamplona 2017: San Fermin bull running festival

CORRECTION / A cleaning worker waters the street before the bull-run on the first day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

Revellers walk the street after the bull run on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 8, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

Revellers raise their hands as the municipal band plays at the town square during the start of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

CORRECTION / Participants run ahead of Cebada Gago's fighting bulls on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / MIGUEL RIOPA

Runners sprint ahead of bulls during the first running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera

A runner sprints alongside Cebada Gago bulls during the first running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso

CORRECTION / A steer hits a participant's head with its horn on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017 Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

A runner is seen through the legs of bulls sprinting towards the bullring during the first running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

CORRECTION / Participants fall down in frontof a Cebada Gago fighting bull on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / ANDER GILLENEA

A "zaldiko" (horseman) hits people with a sponge during a parade as part of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona on July 7, 2017. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

Runners try to avoid a Cebada Gago bull during the first running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso

CORRECTION / A participant runs ahead of Cebada Gago's fighting bulls on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017.. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / MIGUEL RIOPA

Participants hold red scarves as they celebrate the 'Chupinazo' (start rocket) to mark the kickoff at noon sharp of the San Fermin Festival, in front of the Town Hall of Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 6, 2017. A red-and-white sea of revellers soaked each other with wine in a packed Pamplona square today to kick off Spain's most famous fiesta, the San Fermin bull-running festival. / AFP / MIGUEL RIOPA

CORRECTION / Participants wait for the start of the bull run on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017 Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

Runners fall alongside Cebada Gago bulls during the first running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu

CORRECTION / A participant (3L) is tossed by a Cebada Gago fighting bull on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / ANDER GILLENEA

TOPSHOT - A runner falls down under Cebada Gago's fighting bulls on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 8, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

Revellers run in front of Cebada Gago fighting bulls during the first running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Friday, July 7, 2017. At least two people have been gored and many injured during the first running of the bulls of this year's San Fermin festival, medical officials in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona said. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Participants and Cebada Gago's fighting bulls turn the Estafeta curve on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 8, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

CORRECTION / A participant is tossed by a Cebada Gago fighting bull on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / ANDER GILLENEA

CORRECTION / Participants run ahead of Cebada Gago's fighting bulls as people watch it from balconies on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017 Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / ANDER GILLENEA

People watch the parade of "Gigantes y Cabezudos" (Giants and Large Head Puppets) as part of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona on July 7, 2017. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

A giant dances in the street during a parade as part of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona on July 7, 2017. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. / AFP / CESAR MANSO

CORRECTION / People on balconies watch Cebada Gago fighting bulls running on the first day of the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 7, 2017 Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. / AFP / ANDER GILLENEA

Updated 7 July 2017 13:17

July 7, 2017 13:17

The festival of San Fermín is a week-long, historically rooted celebration held annually in the city of Pamplona . The celebrations start at noon on the sixth of July, when the opening of the party is marked by setting off the pyrotechnic chupinazo,and continue until midnight, on the fourteenth of July, with the singing of the Pobre de Mí. While its most famous event is the encierro, or the running of the bulls, which happens at 8:00 AM from the 7th of July to the 14th July.

The festival involves many other traditional and folkloric events. It is known locally as Sanfermines and is held in honor of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of Navarre. Its events were central to the plot of The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English-speaking people. It has become probably the most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain. Over 1,000,000 people come to participate in this festival.