San Fermin isn’t Just About the Bulls

If the running of the bulls is the only event you associate with San Fermin, then you are probably not alone.

However, if you visit Pamplona during this annual festival and the bull run is the only event you watch and/or participate in, then you are doing yourself the ultimate disservice. After all, unless a wayward bull refuses to be corralled in a timely manner during the run, it only lasts at most three minutes each morning during the week-long festival. That’s a lot of downtime to kill.

San Fermin is, first and foremost, a religious observance in honor of the patron saint of the region in which Pamplona sits, Navarra, and from whom the festival gets its name.

Apparently this saint, a Roman who converted to Christianity, met his untimely end as a result of his conversion by being drug through the streets of Pamplona by a herd of bulls.

So the bull run is significant in terms of its religious parallels, but the people of Pamplona also honor their patron saint in other ways.

One of the most entertaining aspects of San Fermin you may be less familiar with is The Procession. This event is held on July 7 every year, and as the name would indicate, a large procession of kings, queens, bands and what can only be described as large-heads make its way through the city to Pamplona’s cathedral, which is the home to a large statue of San Fermin. The statue then joins the procession, which once again treks the streets of Pamplona in his honor.