The festival of San Fermín is a week-long, traditional celebration held annually in the city of Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. 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, which begins at 8 am each day on 7–14 July, but the festival involves many other traditional and folkloric events. It is known locally as Sanfermines in Spanish and Sanferminak in Basque and is held in honour of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of Navarre.
History
Saint Fermín
thumb|upright|Facade of the City Council of Pamplona decorated for the San Fermín festivities
Fermín is said to have been the son of a Roman of senatorial rank in Pamplona in the 3rd century who was converted to Christianity by Saint Honestus, a disciple of Saint Saturninus. According to tradition, he was baptised by Saturninus (in Navarre, 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 in the Catholic Church. Commercial secular fairs were held at the beginning of the summer. As cattle merchants came into town with their animals, eventually bullfighting came to be organised as a part of the tradition. He first visited in 1923 and returned many times until 1959.
One-day events
Chupinazo
thumb|upright|Chupinazo sets off
The opening of the festival is marked by setting off the firework chupinazo (or txupinazo in Basque). 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. 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 txistus 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 along the way.
Saint Fermín procession
thumb|upright|Hornacina of the Saint, located on the slope of [[Santo Domingo]]
The key day of the festival is July 7 when people accompany the 15th-century statue of Saint Fermin 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 (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 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 an event which has been a tradition since at least 1975. It is purposely not part of the official program; each year, it occurs on a different day of the festival and usually a weekday to reduce crowd size. People gather at 23:59 at City Hall and make as much noise as possible for several hours, using noisemakers that include drums, cymbals, bowls, whistles, and pans.
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. 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:
<blockquote>A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro, dándonos su bendición.<br>Entzun, arren, San Fermin zu zaitugu patroi, zuzendu gure oinak entzierro hontan otoi.<br>(To San Fermin, we ask to be our patron saint and to guide us in the running of the bulls, giving us his blessing.)</blockquote>
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 firecracker 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 non-fighting oxen. Shepherds guide the bulls. Once all of the bulls have entered the arena, a third firecracker is released. 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 contusions due to falls.
Giants and big-heads parade
thumb|upright=1.2|Pamplona's Giants and big-heads parade. From back to front and left to right: American, Asian, African, and European pairs of giants (last row), the six kilikis, the five big-heads (second row), the zaldikos, and members of the parade who carry the figures (front row).
Each morning of the festival, a parade of gigantes y cabezudos (English: "giants and big-heads") occurs. Eight giant figures, more than 150 years old, are carried by a dancer inside a wooden structure. These figures were built in 1860 by Tadeo Amorena, a painter from Pamplona. They represent four pairs of kings and queens of four different races and places (Europe, Asia, America, and Africa). Their height is approximately . During the parade, the giants dance to the rhythm of traditional music.
An additional 17 figures are in the parade: six kilikis, five big-heads, and six zaldikos. These were built between 1860 and 1941. Kilikis and big-heads are human caricatures that are carried as helmets. Big-heads are up to tall; kilikis are slightly smaller. Zaldikos are figures that represent horses with their riders. The big-heads precede the giants and wave their hands at spectators. Kilikis and zaldikos run after children, hitting them with a foam truncheon.
Traditional sports
thumb|right|Pamplona bullring
There are exhibitions and competitions of Basque rural sports 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, wood cutting, or hay bale lifting. In addition, the fifth bullfight with younger bulls and not fully trained bullfighters is performed while the sixth features bullfighters on horses (Spanish: rejoneo). Participants watch them while seated on the grass around the citadel.