July 6th - July 14th
| Web site: | http://www.bullrunpamplona.com |
The Running of the Bulls is a practice that involves running in front of a small group (typically a dozen) of bulls that have been let loose, on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets. The most famous running of the bulls is that of the seven-day festival of Sanfermines in honor of San Fermín in Pamplona although they are held in towns and villages across Spain, Portugal, and in some cities in Mexico Mesquite, Nevada, and southern France, during the summer. Unlike bullfights, which are performed by professionals, anyone older than 18 may participate in an encierro.
The Sanfermines encierro takes place from July 7th to 14th and starts at the corral in Calle Santo Domingo when the clock on the church of San Cernin strikes eight o"clock in the morning. After the launching of two rockets, the bulls charge behind the runners for 825 meters, the distance between the corral and the bullring. The run usually lasts between three and four minutes although it has sometimes taken over ten minutes, especially if one of the bulls has been isolated from his companions.
