When we talk about Bull Run, the first thing which comes to our mind is the scene from the Bollywood movie ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’! Where four friends run for their lives and come over their fears and shortcoming. A red-and-white sea of revellers erupted in celebration on Wednesday, dousing each other with wine in a packed Pamplona square as Spain’s most famous bull-running festival returned after a two-year absence due to the pandemic.
The launch of a firecracker known as the “chupinazo” from the balcony of the northern city’s town hall at noon (1000 GMT) marked the official start of the nine-day San Fermin fiesta, kicking off the bedlam.
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.”
The annual event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to coronavirus restrictions. Animal rights groups want it banned for good. “I’ve been to San Fermin many times before, but this is very different, people have missed the celebration, they are happy to be with their families, happy to be without the masks, they just wanna feel alive and enjoy the sunshine,” said Michelle Rene, 45, of San Francisco.
Thousands of party-goers from around the world – most dressed in the traditional all-white outfit with a red scarf – responded ecstatically, screaming “Viva San Fermin!” and spraying each other with wine.
The festival, which dates back to medieval times, features concerts, religious processions, folk dancing, and round-the-clock drinking. But the highlight is the bracing daily test of courage against a thundering pack of half-tonne, sharp-horned bulls.
Every day at 8:00 am, hundreds of daredevils race with six fighting bulls along an 850-meter (2,800-foot) course from a holding pen to Pamplona’s bull ring, which this year marks its 100th anniversary.
The bravest – or most foolhardy – run as close as possible to the bulls’ horns, preferably without being gored. The first bull run, which traditionally draws the largest number of participants, is on Thursday. Dozens of people are hurt every year, although most injuries are caused by runners falling or being trampled by the bulls.
The runs, during which six purpose-bred fighting bulls chase runners through the narrow streets of Pamplona’s Old Quarter over a stretch of 800 meters (half a mile), will start on Thursday and continue for a week, including the weekend, when they are usually the most dangerous because of larger crowds.
There are eight runs in total, and usually, each lasts between three and five minutes. They end at the bullring, where the animals are corralled before reappearing in the evening bullfight when they are killed.
Bullfighting is still immensely popular in Spain although the movement against it has gained much momentum in recent years. Bullfighting is banned only in the Canary Islands although it is not practiced much, or at all, in some other regions such as Catalonia and the Balearic Islands including Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza.
