Festival of San Fermin, Pamplona July 2009 ~ The Wandering Stardust ~ Singaporean living in Madrid, Spain

I had a fantastic weekend at Pamplona!!! It was a truly great new experience and I’m really glad I made it.

Running from 6 to 14 July - although the 9 day festival is in honor of San Fermin (patron Saint of Pamplona), it has become synonymous with the 'encierro' (Bull-Run). This is where a bunch of bulls are released and thousands of people run along with them down a designated stretch of the old town (approx. 825m) until they reach the bull ring. Absolute pandemonium.

The adrenalin starts to build from 7 a.m. every morning and at 8 a.m., a 'chupinazo' (mini rocket) is fired off marking the release of the bulls. Once the gates are opened, the mayhem begins. If you’re a participant, there’s only one thing to remember - the Bull is King, run for your life!

Balconies..something you wish you had for a bird's eye view of the Bull-Run

Whether you love it for the intriguing culture or for the extremity of the sport, you just have to make it to Pamplona during the San Fermin Festival at least once in your lifetime. The tradition, the people, the smell in the air, the entire experience - is simply awesome.

After the bulls had completed the run and enclosed in the arena (all in under 2 mins), the attention quickly turns to those who got injured along the way. As this is a highly dangerous activity, strict rules & regulations are made known to all participants (obviously you can't be drunk or suicidal). Yet, sadly not all of them are ‘clean runs’. There has been one fatality and several injured. This is the part of the festival that really sucks.

One of the streets where the bulls had run, here filled with people in the afternoon...

After the morning bull-run nonetheless, the fun continues throughout the day with a line-up of outdoor events such as parades, live bands, performances and firework displays. In other words, it's round the clock partying for 9 solid days.

If you are not dressed in White & Red, you must be an uninformed foreigner. There's no excuse not to be in festival colours as you can easily pick your outfit from the street vendors.

To keep to the lighter side of things, I was happier capturing the 'after-run' party around town.

The revellers...