THE Party of san fermin is a traditional religious festival held in honor of San Firmino, in the city of Pamplona, Spain, between the 6th and 14th of July. The festival is part of an ancestral Iberian tradition related to bulls, considered as representatives of the forces of the land.
the party of san fermin is characterized mainly by two moments: the end of the day, the well-known running of the bulls through the streets of the city; it's the txupinazo (or chupinazo), a moment of crowding of participants for the explosion of fireworks, but which modernly it became the moment of the celebration in which the celebrants remain in the streets, washed down with a great amount of alcohol.
The party starts at noon on July 6th, when the mayor of the city and the religious authorities appear on the balcony of the Chamber of Pamplona, in the Plaza Consistorial, and the txupinazo, a type of firework, is launched. to the cries of San Fermin!, San Fermin!, the celebrants wave a red scarf overhead, which will later be placed around their necks during the nine days of the feast. The festivities are accompanied by music, dancing and drinks. In the afternoon there is a procession in which the troupe of giants and bigheaded is accompanied by the Pamplonese, a band that plays a single song, Astrain Vals. After this procession, there is a mass in the church of San Lorenzo.
I wave the traditional red scarves in the Plaza de Consistorial.**
The next day, Giants and Hairy are accompanied in parades by the Kilikis and the Zaldikos. You giants they are three meter tall dolls that represent kings from four continents or “races” of the world. The kings are preceded by their escort of bigheaded, Kilikis and Zaldikos. You bigheaded are the serious puppets, which do not dance, and precede the giants, standing out for their huge heads of about two meters in diameter. already the Kilkis and the Zaldikos they are a kind of knights of kings, who stand out for their jokes and persecution of children. The parades take place during all feast days.
The Plaza Consistorial is later taken over by a crowd that celebrates to the sound of music, dancing, champagne (the cava) and wine, similar to a bacchanal. The drink is used both for ingestion and for bathing people beside it. Harassment reports are constantly logged.
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Drinking is one of the practices of Fermin's party. *
But what made the Festa de san fermin it's the end of the day, bullfights through the narrow streets of the old city center, accompanied by a crowd beside and in front of the bulls. O end of the day it is the moment when the bulls are transferred to the arena where they will be used in bullfights. The race is carried out in the morning by the six bulls that will be used in the afternoon bullfights, accompanied by another eight tame oxen. the beginning of end of the day it is also marked by fireworks that indicate the moments of the race. The streets where the bulls pass are protected with wooden fences. Careers along and ahead of bulls are often accompanied by trampling and gore.
Demonstration against bullfighting and in defense of animals. *
Recently, the Feast of san fermin it was also marked by protests organized by people and organizations for the protection of animals, which oppose the use of bulls and bullfights in the festivities.
Contributed immensely to the international dissemination of the party of san fermin the book by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) party (The Sun Also Rises, or The Sun Always Rises) set in Paris and Pamplona during the festivities.
* Image Credit: migel and Shutterstock.com
** Image Credit: Yakov Filimonov and Shutterstock.com
By Tales Pinto
Master in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PINTO, Tales dos Santos. "Feast of San Fermín in Pamplona"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/datas-comemorativas/festa-san-fermin.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
