The San Fermín festival runs from July 6 to 14, and the centrepiece is the daily encierro — the running of the bulls. At eight in the morning, six fighting bulls and six steers are released from the Santo Domingo corrals. They career through the narrow streets of the old town to the Plaza de Toros, with several hundred runners scrambling ahead of them. The whole thing is over in under four minutes.
If you want to run, register online before the festival and study the route. The most dangerous stretch is the corner at Mercaderes, where bulls slip on the cobblestones. Estafeta, the long straight, is the most photographed. The final metres into the bullring are where the serious gorings happen. If you would rather watch, tickets for the bullring give you a grandstand view of the finish; balconies on Calle Estafeta can be rented for the week.
The festival is far bigger than the encierro. There are fireworks, concerts, music, and the famous red-and-white costumes that the whole city wears for eight days. The opening ceremony — the chupinazo, when a rocket is fired from the town hall balcony — sends a packed Plaza Consistorial into hysteria.