10 tips for the Bull running (Part 2)

6 - Beware of the Bulls on their one.

For the Bulls it is their very first experience with people and noise. The most dangerous is the bull that is lost, either the bull than runs ahead of the herd that charge against the runners as well as the one the that lingers, as is usually because it has slipped and has been taken down from the herd. Bulls and oxen are easy to distinguish. The oxen are large, bony, older and shaven, and wear a cow bell.

7 - Respect Sheppard’s and benders

Sheppard are located behind the herd with their sticks, try to keep the herd compact and draw the attention of those who annoy, touch or referred to animals. The benders wait for the bulls in the ring to guide them into the bullfight corral.

8 - Do not Quote or Touch the Bulls

You can draw your attention and put yourself and other runners in unnecessary danger.

9 - Do not Follow the Herd once they have overtake you
The closure (encierro) is over for you. And especially do not call the attention of the bulls when you're behind them. The closure is to lead to the square, not to get them again in reverse.

10 - Do not Push or Create any Difficulties during the Race to other Runners.

You do not run alone, mind you. Avoid pushing and elbowing other runners (mozos)  Focus on the bull and run the best you can.

10 tips for the Bull Running (Part 1)

First of all there is to know that the bulls are very dangerous. A bull can kill you. Running with the bulls requires  to knowwhat´s the running itinerary, certain fitness level, coming to run havingrested and obviously, a little common sense. In addition to these four basicconditions, these following suggestions can be very helpful:

Itinerary Bull Running

1 – Find Out the Itinerary Layout before hand

If you want to run you have to access the itinerary before 7:30 am from the gates on the Plaza Consistorial (where the Chupinazo takes place).You mus stay at this plaza or at Santo Domingo´s Hill (Cuesta de Santo Domingo) until the police barriers will open. In that moment, you can place yourself at the point of the itinerary you have chosen to start the race. At 7:30 am all access will be closed and is forbidden to getout.

2 - Select in Advance the Section in which you will Run

Statistically, the most dangerous stretches of confinement are Alley-Plaza (where there have been eight of the fourteen fatal bull caughts) and the end of Santo Domingo, coming to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (three deads). Know also that the curve-Estafeta Mercaderes, where our balconies are located, should be taken from the right: the bulls slip andaffixed to the wall of the left, and more than one corridor has been caught offguard between herd and fencing.

3 - Choose your Clothes Carefully

Use comfortable clothes and shoes, and do not carry any packages with you. Backpacks,cameras and other objects are forbidden and be jeopardize your safety and thatof the other runners.

4 – Ask Advise to Experienced Runners.

The closure (encierro) poses a serious risk and overcrowding have made it even more dangerous. You learn to run after many years of practice.

5 -If you Fall, do not Get Up!

If during the race you hit the ground, do not get up until the whole herd has passed. If  you stay crouched and still, the bulls will pass by. Having that said, watchout for falls, as it is easy to trip and fall, especially in the days ofheaviest affluence of runners. In fact, most of the wounded are because of the contusions as they fall down. You have to go looking at the same time, forward, back and to the ground. Once you are already inside the herd, it is safer if you go attached to the bulls, which probably will any other runner in front will bother you.
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Bull´s Fair Poster 2012

Colombian artist Diego Ramirez Ramos, born in Cali, is the author of the poster announcing the Bull Fair 2012. The poster is a personal request from the Casa de Misericordia (Mercy House) in Pamplona, who´s since 1922 is the organizer of the San Fermin bullfighting festival, renamed in 1959 as the Bull´s Fair.

Colombian artist knew the San Fermin Festival as in 2009 he exhibited his works in Pamplona. The Casa de la Misericordia (Mercy House) will sell 2,000 copies large sized (3 euros) and 3,500 medium-sized (2 euros). As a new idea, this year they have prepared 500 copies laminated in the medium size in order to retainingthe colours of the poster for a longer period of time.

The Encierro

In my opinion the best videos are on the following web site http://www.rtve.es/noticias/san-fermin /

They offer eight different cameras signals plus the signal made during the San Fermin festival 2011. You can choose to watch the encierro (Closure) from which everpoint you prefer by picking a determined the camera. The site is written in Spanish but I it is easy to understand how to move around. As you will see, you can watchthemfrom whatever point of view you want without losing any details.

You could find out what happens in the Santo Domingo Hill or in Estafeta St at any time. You can even feel the tension of the runnersbefore the arrival of the bulls or what happens if any bull is left behind. Just click on the camera, choose the route of the encierro (closure) you want. They are many livestock some of them are Torrestrella, Cebada Gago, Dolores Aguirre, Miura, Fuente Ymbro, Victoriano del Rio, El Pilar or Nuñez de Cuvillo.

Fireworks

From the 6th to the 14th of july, just as the night-life starts getting going, a breathking display of fire-works is orechertrasted from the castle Plaza and hundreds of locals and visitors gather to watch.

The park in the Castle Courtyard (La vuelta del Castillo) is the best place from which to enjoy the show whilst sitting on the grass and enjoying the summer air.

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The chupinazo

It is the rocket announcing the beginning of the festival, this is just over half a century.  During centuries, the beginning of the festival of San Fermin took place when the municipal authorities, accompanied by mace - bearers, giants, musicians and general public use to go to San Lorenzo´s Church to do the Vespers in honour of San Fermin.  In 1901 some people start lighting rockets in the Plaza del Castillo. In 1940 the Deputy Mayor Joaquin Ilundáin and jthe ournalist José María Pérez Salazar suggested to the Mayor to officially pull the Chupinazo rom the balcony of the consistory. And a year later the mayor lit the wick.

The Chupinazo will be shot by an appointed personality that the Major has previously decided (is usually a member of the Municipal Corporation). This takes place on July 6 at 12 noon from the central balcony of the second floor of City Hall. During the previous hours both locals and foreigners, dressed in traditional clothing (trousers and white shirt and red sash) wait for this huge moment. They are bathered with torrents of cheap champagne flowing onto them. Once the rocket is off, they knot their red scarf onthe neck and they should wear it during the whole festival.

The rocket´s shot followed by the shouts of Viva San Fermin! and "Gora San Fermin!" converts the old part in a human tide submerged in a mixture of songs, dances, music and shouts of joy indicating that the party has begun. The best place to experience this are on the balconies surrounding the Town Hall Plaza as to get inside the crowd you must be willing to endure for more than an hour all sorts of pushing, shouting and flourover you. Another possibility, not that exciting, is to watch it live on TV.

Chupinazo 2011
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The Procession

Procesion de San Fermin

On July 7th, the feast of San Fermin, is the biggest day. The human outbreak on the 6 is followed by another act even more crowded if possible, although this has very different nature and very appreciated and loved by the Pamplona´scitizens. Thousands of people dressed in spotless white, accompany the statue of the Saint, which runs through out some Old Town streets accompanied by the Church Authorities.San Fermin leaves for few hours his retirement in the church of San Lorenzo and makes Pamplona a corridor of admiration, devotion and gratitude. Its time for tradition.

San Fermin

The image of San Fermin is a wood carving, a XV century reliquary that was trimmed in silver 1687. In its oval chest has few relics of St. Fermin. Usually it is exposed in the Church San Lorenzo.

Giants and big heads start the tour with the basque dancers. The municipal corporation together with the ecclesiastica l authorities all dressed in evening dresses are accompanying the beloved Saint. The band "La Pamplonesa" along with txistus (basque flute) and bagpipes enliven the journey.

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The Encierro (closure) 3

               Songs in the Niche

Every day the runners invoke the Saint asking their protection minutes before the race takes place. They do it with a newspaper in his hand in front of the niche that is located at de beginning of the Santo Domingo Hill. The song is sung three times (7.55, 7.57 and 7.59 hours) and goes : "We ask tos San Fermin/to be our guide/guiding us in the runnig/ giving us his blessing". In Spanish would be :  "A San Fermin pedimos/ por ser nuestro Patrón, nos guíe en el encierro/ Dándonos su bendición". Ends with shouts of "¡viva San Fermin!, Gora San Fermín!", And is one of the most exciting moments.

                                                                   
                                                                    
               The Fencing

It first appears in 1776 to mark the route for the running of the bulls an is the most important safety barrier. It is made of wooden spruce and consist of 1.800 boards, 40 gates, 590 post, 200 palisades, 2.400 and 2.000 screws sills. Each year 20 boards are replaced due to the damage.

           

 The Herd 

                           

The encierro (closure) its run by the six bulls that will figh in the afternoon at the Bullring and two groups of halters (gentle) that guide the bulls running in front of them. They are recognizable as they will have a bell hanging on their neck. They will be eight of them in total. Three more halters will be released at the very end to work as a "broom wagon".

Closure July 7, 2011    

The Encierro (closure) 1

The encierro (closure) is, outside of the liturgy, the central act of San Fermin and what Pamplona has projected as an image to the five continents. Any where in the planet have heard of the city where people runs down the street in front of the bulls.
The direct broadcasting on television has increased its legend and has brought a dangerous overcrowding. The number of runners is usually at 2.000 people but the weekend raises up to 3.500.The rate at the bulls run is around 24 km /h.

The Rockets
They are four of them. Its very important the punctuality of their timing being released as is the safety of ther runners depend largely on their correct timing.
The first rocket is released when the San Cernin clock is showing 8o´clock. At that time the corral doors open and the police barriers that are retaining all the runners will dissolve.
The second rocket alerts that the entire herd has already left the corrals, the third rocket informs that the bulls and oxen have already entered the bullring and finally the fourth one indicates that the entire herd has entered the corral that is inside of the Bullfight Ring.

The first rocket is released when the San Cernin clock is showing 8o´clock. At that time the corral doors open and the police barriers that are retaining all the runners will dissolve. The second rocket alerts that the entire herd has already left the corrals, the third rocket informs that the bulls and oxen have already entered the bullring and finally the fourth one indicates that the entire herd has entered the corral that is inside of the Bullfight Ring.



 The Running of the Bulls Run has always the same solar time. At 6 hours, ran to 1924, at 7 pm to 1973 and from 1974 to the 8 hours under official schedule changes.

EL PAÍS

Closure of July 9, 2011  

The Encierrillo

This is the transference of the bulls from the further lying stalls from which the run begins. At 11 o´clock, in the night before the run with the bulls 440 metres quietly, calmly and unaccompanied to to the stalls in Santo Domingo . In order to see it one would have to collect tickets the Town Hall days before the event.

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The Encierro (Closure) 2

The Encierro  was born from need: getting the bulls from outside the city into the bullring. The 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  (Gothic, XIII century) strikes eight o'clock in the morning. After the launching of two rockets, the bulls charge behind the runners for 825 metres, 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.



               1                 Corrales
               1 - 2            Cuesta de Santo Domingo
               2                 Town Hall
               2 - 3            Mercaderes Street
               3 - 5            Estafeta Street
               5-6-7           Plaza de Toros. Access

 July 11, 2011       

The Queen´s earrings and my brother

In September 2010, was the commemorative 150th anniversary of "the Giants and Big Heads Parade". The tickets for the show at Pamplona´s  Bull Ring were sold out within days. My brother Josetxo  Goia-Aribe, which is jazz musician composed a special piece for that day in honor of Thaddeus Amorena, author of the giants, and for the hundreds of people that during these 150 years have been part of "La Comparsa " (The Parade). He was part of this troupe for several years.

At that time he published his fifth album "The Queen's earrings". The title stems from a story he was told by chance. Back in 1900 a woman who lived 12 kilometers from Pamplona was accustomed to go –walking-to Pamplona´s Festival,"San Fermin".

 "The Queen's earrings"  Album cover. The boy is my nephew looking at the Queen

 Well, this woman use to go come to San Fermin Festival     with her children by her hand and get into the maelstrom of the party ... the running of the bulls, bullfighting, carousels, music concerts, etc… But what she liked the most was the Giants and Big Head Parade as she was fascinated by a tiny detail that probably was unnoticeable for most of people attending the Parade, the beautiful earrings that one of the Queens wore.

At the Parade were 8 Giants and one was known as "The European Queen". She was her favourite, and of course, her earrings with the amazing "swinging" they did while the Queen was dancing. She explain this fascination to her children, grand children and even great grand children and on the spoken words of one of her fourth generation descendant when my brother found out this beautiful story. This is the explanation for my brother to choose this title for his disc. His intention was to put in value the small things, even insignificant details that give warmth to our memory.

www.josetxogoiaribe.com

He is a professor at the Higher School of Music of the Basque Country. My nephew plays the piano and is overall a good kid.

Our balconies, Estafeta street

This is the itinerary of the closure. Our balconies are located in Section 3. The closure starts on the Santo Domingo corrals and ends at the end of Estafeta Road wherethe Bullfight ring is located. The streets through which the closure unfolds are four: Santo Domingo, Plaza Consitorial, Mercaderes and Estafeta. The entire stretch of the closure has a length of 825 meters, which are covered by the mozos (runners) and bulls in an average time of three to four minutes. We have experience exceptional running’s that lasted over ten minutes but these wheremostly when a bull was “descolgado” disoriented and didn´t follow the herd.

     In the most recent years that Hemingway enjoyed the Sanfermines, he used to stay in room 217 of the hotel "La Perla", from whose balcony saw the running of the bulls. But in his early years in San Fermin as acorrespondent for the weekly Canadian "Toronto Star Weekly" he stayed in other places as didn´t have enough resources to stay in that hotel. of three to four minutes.

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Camels in Estafeta

Diario de Noticias

Yesterday, January the 5th the Magic Kings arrived in Pamplona.Thousands of people welcomed the Three Magic Kings, accompanied by an entourage of more than 200 people. Pamplona´s mayor greet them at City Halls by expressing his gratitude and make them feel welcome to the City.

In this picture you can see my house on the corner of Estafeta with Merchants ... Yesterday instead of bulls we had camels, music, joy and excitement on the faces of all the children.

Everyone had many wishes for the Kings and expectancy that during the night they would leave lots of gifts in their homes. On the night of December 24 also visits the homes of children the Olentzero - Papa Noel.  In Spain it is considered that Christmas ends today, Epiphany. On Monday, children will return to school. Street Merchants and Estafesta won´t be so crowded until July the 7th when the first Running of the Bulls on San Fermin will take place.

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A youth “gored” on the Monument of the Running of the Bulls

Last August (2011), a young French man, who had arrived in Navarre in order to enjoy a prelude to the World Youth Day and who was seeing the Monument of the Running of the Bulls situated in the middle of Pamplona "became so exited taking photos that he slipped an was stuck by a horn" from one  of the bullsof bronce that represents the emblematic running of the bulls of San Fermin.

At seeing the blood of is companion , one of the other young men that accompanied him fainted and both had to be brought to the  Hospital of Navarre, where they were treated and subsequently released. Pamplona City Council has made the decision to prohibit anyone from climbing on the monument of the running of the bulls placed on Roncesvalles Avenue in 2007.

Pamplona City Council has made the decision to prohibit anyone from climbing on the monument of the running of the bulls placed on Roncesvalles Avenue in 2007.
The monument is of six bulls, three bullocks, and ten young men, made of bronze, with a total weight of more than ten tons.

The young men and bulls depict the journey of the running of the bulls over some cobblestones that simulate the pavement on Estafeta and that were made ‘in situ’ once the sculpture was placed.

7 de Julio... San Fermín

The letter of the oldest song of San Fermin is

                               Uno de enero
                               Dos de febrero
                               Tres de marzo
                               Cuatro de abril
                               Cinco de mayo
                               Seis de junio
                               Siete de julio... San Fermín
                              A Pamplona hemos de ir
                              con una media, con una media,
                              A Pamplona hemos de ir,
                              con una media y un calcetín.

Some group of friends organized dinner on January 1st, the 2nd of February ... so on July 7.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO RENT A SPOT FROM A PRIVILEGED BALCONY, RIGHT IN THE DEAD MAN CORNER, TO WATCH THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS IN SAN FERMIN FESTIVAL, LOG IN THIS LINK AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED!

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