Screamin & Bahama
I must say that i am well experienced in this yearly event. let me bring you up to speed then, because not only is it great television but its something that if you take part in, you will never forget, ever.
Every year from July 6-14, the town of Pamplona in the northwestern corner of Spain, otherwise known as the Basque region opens its gates for the Running of the Bulls, or locally known as "Los San Fermines". This event kicked off hundreds of years ago in honor of a saint that was killed while traveling outside his hometown of pamplona. it started when the local ranchers had to transport the bulls from the corrals at the bottom of the town up to the bullring at the top of the town. Noone actually knows when the first person decided to get in the streets, but year after year, it grew and by the time Hemingway's the Sun Also Rises came out, it was only a matter of time that this would become world reknown.
Just to give you my experience of the event from the years past that i have attended.
Once you arrive in Pamplona, you are swarmed by all the people and white and red uniforms, you know immediately that this is not just any old spanish party. Whether you arrive by train or bus, be prepared not to sleep all that much. Partying is all around, most concentrated in the "Old" part of town, this is generally closer to the route of the Bullrun, and generally most people dont venture out of this section during the week. all the bars turn into clubs at night, all crowded and the vibe is always good. lets put it this way from a guys standpoint, to say that there are an abundance of senoritas ready and willing walking around is a complete understatement. the partied go on all night, and i mean all night. these do NOT slow down at all thru the night; BUT for the runners out there, 6am might be a good time to put down the sangria and step away from the chica because this is when you have to start gearing up and mentally prepping for the Bullrun.
Runners spill into the streets around 6am right about the time when it starts getting light. The bulls are at the bottom of the town and the run is slightly uphill all the way to the bullring. There is a clock at city center that at 7:59 rings 60 times until 8am when they blow a rocket off. once the rocket goes off the bulls are released from the corrals and into the streets. Along with the 6 bulls, there are 4 steer oxen that are released with them to help guide them along and to try and keep them on a straight path up the streets. basically the bulls are black with the horns and the oxen are light colored and taller, they are harmless. once they are in the streets, its every man for himself, people are pushing, the look of terror is on people faces and the worst feeling is that you are going to get caught in a corner of a turn where most of the time, the bulls slip and pile up, crushing any runners in the process. The runs last anywhere from 2:30 for a good clean run to 15 minutes for a dangerous run. Because they are pack animals the run gets dangerous when they seperate and get scared. this is when they start goring people and create havoc. about a couple minutes after the bulls are in the streets, they let 4 more oxen go to "clean up" any solo bulls or ones that have lost there way. once the bulls reach the bullring, the idea is that they are led into the bullring corrals for the afternoon bullfights, but many times they continue to charge the runners that have gathered in the ring or ran into the ring ahead or with the bulls.
i have done the run probably 12 times and each time i get nervous, there is no easy feeling in your stomach when you hear those bells going at 7:59. looking down at the run, watching runners dash out of the way and seeing people get trampled, horned, flipped in the air while the beasts charge is a site. all thought goes out the window when they get close. i cant give any more thought or insight on this because everyone is different and will react in different ways.
Screamin:
in total 48 bulls are ran (8 mornings of 6 bulls)
Bahama:
it's not for everyone, you might want to stay outside the course and watch(which is also a pretty cool experience in itself, watching it from safety)
like i said for those of you who like to travel and be adventurous, this should be at the top of the list.
