San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain. Every year It takes places on July 6th until 15th, 10 days in a row.
Truthfully, with hotels being pricey and AirBnB places all booked, I had almost given up on the idea of going to this festival that I was always dreaming about.
But on July 11th, I randomly stumbled on a bus line that ran between Pamplona and where I was then (Barcelona) so I jumped onto the tickets then later onto the bus to Pamplona, the town well-known for being the origin of the Bull Running festivity.
Lesson: Sometimes it works out to be persistent. Sometimes.
Itinerary
12th 22:05 - Leaves Bercelona
13rd 04:05 - Arrives in Pamplona
08:00 ~ all day - Sam Fermin festival
14th 01:45 - Leaves Pamplona
07:45 - Arrives in Barcelona
10:00 - Leaves Barcelona for Valencia
I was hoping to go to Valencia directly after Pamplona but there was no bus between Pamplona and Valencia, so I once went back to Barcelona. Besides I had no place in Pamplona to keep my big luggage in during the festival (a friend of mine said it was ok to leave it in her place but it would have been super early in the morning I didn't wanna disturb her and her family) so I used a locker in a station to which I wouldn't have had to go otherwise, called the Barcelona Sants station. One locker there cost 5.2€ per 24 hours (smaller ones 3.6€), so not so bad. Then headed to the Barcelona Nord station where the bus to Valencia came in.
Barcelona - Pamplona = approx. 25€ (I think)
Pamplona - Barcelona = approx. 21€ (I think)
http://www.monbus.es/es/ofertas-especiales/37/barcelona-pamplona/
Festival day (July 13), 4:30 AM, arrived
Pretty cold with no sun... The stupid me had only a t-shirt on as in Barcelona it was like 25 degrees even in early mornings those days. So I bought a pull over at a random shop, which was seriously like everywhere in town. 20 Euros. Ouch.
And a t-shirt. 15 Euros. Ouch ouch.
I was intending to get a whiter one, because wearing red and white is one of the traditions of the San Fermin festival. Knowing that, the t-shirt I already had on was a normal white one. But finding this San Fermin t-shirt, the urge of mine welled up too high to hold down, when the other t-shirts were from 4 Euros...
(According to a group of Irish guys, it was still 15 Euros after the main programmes of the day. Maybe it's natural given that the day was not the last day.)
5:00 AM, strolling in town
Wearing red and white is one of the traditions of the San Fermin festival. A friend of mine from the town later told me that the locals go out anywhere wearing red and white (even with a red scarf), not just to the festival.
6.00 + 0.50 Euros. Not sure if the prices go up by 0.5 Euros only during the festival, but this seemed like a usual price for a kebab set in town.
5:40 AM, made it to the place
A fair amount of people were already there, dancing, talking, making whatever noises. (Me envying them as I was by myself.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P709WIYqwCE (8 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyGHqdhT8ik (12 sec)
While they are at that, I got a good place for Bull Running :D
(A few min later the stranger Polish girl next to me suggested to swap place and I got an even greater position with no pole.)
This beautiful angle...
A tout(? ダフ屋). 5 Euros for a 3 Euro ticket to the bull ring, where the Bull Fights would take place hours after the Bull Running (I think). Honestly 5 Euros is not that bad I thought but I didn't buy it, as I didn't really wanna support the Bull Fights and the tickets were for the Bull Running only, not the Bull Fights and I already got a great spot anyways.
There were 3 touts around. One of the 3 was a very nice, smiley guy. Sorry for being curious and asking a bit too many questions with no intention to purchase.
Arrested before bull run? (I know how excited you were...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCPdJJnMDfM (2 sec)
8:00 AM, and and... finally, Bull Running!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcuXEdziMZw (1m14s)
Other programmes... also massive fun.
What's been making this San Fermin festival all this well-known worldwide is most definitely the Bull Running (which now I know is part of animal cruelty, so save it please), but there are many many more programmes than that to this festival. A lot more than I put on this blog thingy. And as far as I witnessed and exexperienced myself, most of them are real fun. Like, REAL FUN.
(No event between 13:00 - 17:30. Well, Siesta in a park.)
( http://www.sanfermin.com/index.php/en/programa-sanfermin/programa-2015/programa-sanfermin-13julio )
9:30, Giants and Big-Heads
Big-Heads hit you (not me... I wanted to be hit. Give me pain.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaBi3dqhOTA (13 sec)
Big-Heads hit you & Giants spin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4Nq0K45SM (17 sec)
Big-Head chases & rests (& probably leaves children trauma)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy-3hS5YDOk (20 sec)
11:30, Running of the Bulls for Kids
Marching to the starting point
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEM6ZpihvVI (21 sec)
Merry chase!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKea2FtC-7A (11 sec)
And back!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbMALCMYoEQ (8 sec)
They ran 11 times (5.5 round ways).
13:00 - 17:30, No event going on, yet hurly-burly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbPxKyspPGU (8 sec)
21:45, Fireworks Bulls Run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPx (21 sec) - A spark landed on me... So hot but so exciting, the world of masochism was near.
Coming back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saAWUWFLU7Q (8 sec)
Again and again, and again. And again. (5 times)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP7d6PaNe54 (22 sec)
Just random street music. Very Spanish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaSC6vWb_Xw (3 sec)
23:00, Fireworks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EBeGiXfqB8 (10 sec)
During the fireworks, I remember someone once screaming out in Spanish like "Taaamayaaa" or something just like we the Japanese would say (stereotypically, but no more in reality), but I don't remember what the word was... What was it... Anyone?
00:00, Live Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMb2UxCjkS8 (10 sec)
01:45, I got on the bus back to Barcelona.
Just for me to keep it in mind, this is what an acquaintance of mine kindly said to me;
you know why bulls run? cause they had been kept in a dark room since the day before and also left unfed. also they rub vaseline on their eyes so they can't see well, and on top of that they're very sensitive to noise so they are totally disoriented and angry. they should change the bull for something else like a giant running ball or whatever.
All in all, this whole festival was truly, unforgettably fun. It really was, in spite of the fact that I was pretty much by myself all the time. As this festival was one of the top in my bucket list (one of my biggest dreams is to see in real life this kind of weird/fun festivities all over the world), I felt like my life was complete and that I could die after with no regret. I also think animal cruelty should be gone, but I do hope that with some changes this fun festival will still go on and on and I can make it again sometime :)
