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Las Fiestas de San Fermín

The Sanfermines festival of Pamplona is one of Spain's most iconic celebrations

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Las Fiestas de San Fermín

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Las Fiestas de San Fermín

"Pamploneses, Pamplonesas, Viva San Fermín!"

It's an image familiar to many Americans: daredevils dressed in all white with a dramatic red scarf and belt run alongside, and in front of, massive bulls through the streets of Pamplona, the capital of the Autonomous Community of Navarre, in the north of Spain. The runners, called mozos, are trying to get as close as possible – sometimes close enough to feel the bulls' breath on their backs – while steering clear of their thick horns. Onlookers cheer and scream as the bulls stampede through. When it's all over, the wounded mozos are attended to, and everyone else breathes easier that they escaped unscathed. 

El Encierro, or the Running of the Bulls, may be the most famous moment of Las Fiestas de San Fermín in Pamplona, but the festival itself is an entire week of celebrating. It begins at noon on July 6th, when el chupinazo, a rocket, is launched from city hall in Pamplona to start the festivities. There are parades through the streets, like the one featuring Los Gigantes and Los Cabezudos, the Giants and the Big Heads, large figures that are marched through the town. Basque sporting events, including wood chopping, stone lifting, and jai alai, are held throughout the region. Bands play in Pamplona, including for Las Dianas, when the city's municipal band marches through the streets at 645 am to wake everyone up and alert them that El Encierro is approaching. 

The running of the bulls occurs every day at 8 am and lasts for little more than two minutes, during which time the animals destined for the day's bullfight are corralled to the city's arena. This tradition is more than 600 years old, and dates to a time when the bulls would be brought from their pastures to the city's center for the bullfight. Townspeople started to help guide the bulls during this journey, which became the thrill-seeking run that we know today – made famous to an English-speaking audience in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, an account of the author's visit to Sanfermines in the 1920s.

The menu during Sanfermines features local Navarrese specialties and Spanish favorites. Before El Encierro, during Las Dianas, the mozos drink warm broth to fortify themselves for the run, and afterwards they eat churros and hot chocolate to recuperate. The rest of the day is filled with eating and drinking – the most popular dishes include fried eggs with chistorra, a local sausage; estafado de toro, or bull stew; ajoarriero, a dish of salt cod, garlic, and tomato; and pochas, a typical Navarrese dish of fresh shelling beans. And everything is washed down with local wine or kalimotxos – a favorite Basque combination of red wine and cola (see the recipe here).

While there won't be any bulls running down 10th Avenue or through the Vessel at Hudson Yards, you'll still have a chance to experience a taste of Sanfermines at Mercado Little Spain. Try some churros and chocolate at the Churros Kiosk, fried eggs with chistorra at Spanish Diner, and pick up some preserved vegetables – a Navarrese specialty – at Colmado

And wherever you are when el chupinazo is launched, feel free to cheer along with the revelers: "Pamploneses, Pamplonesas, Viva San Fermín! Gora San Fermin!" – "People of Pamplona! Long Live San Fermín!"

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