History of the Pamplona Bull Run

that, up to the XVI century, were held in October to coincide with Saint's festival but were later moved to July because of the unpredictable weather of October.
According to historians the Sanfermines were not born spontaneously but arose out of the conjunction of three separate fiestas: those of a religious nature in honor of San Ferm?­n on October 10 and which have taken place since old times, the commercial fiestas organized since the XIV century and the taurine festivals which were centered around the bullfights, also since the XIV century.

Little by little, the commemoration of San Ferm?­n which was held on the 10th of October began to be filled out with other elements such as music, dance, comedies, trading posts and bull fights. This motivated the Town Council to request that the fiesta of San Ferm?­n be moved to the 7th of July as this was a more suitable date.
Thus, with the union of the elements of the three fiestas and with the change of date, in 1591 the Sanfermines were born which, in their first incarnation lasted for two days and included a procession, musicians, a tournament, theatre and bull fight. In following years other means of celebrating were incorporated such as fireworks and dances and the fiestas were prolonged up to the 10th.

The chronicles of the XVII and XVIII centuries speak of religious acts taking part right next to musicians, dancers, tournaments, acrobats, bull runs and bulls; they talk of the clergy's concern over the abuse of drink, the permissiveness of young men and women and the presence of people from other lands who, with their shows, "made the city more amusing."

The XIX century fairground is worth noting, curios and attractions as bizarre as the woman cannonball, unbreakable pencils, exotic animals or wax figures, while the Comparsa de Gigantes (Company of Giants) made their debut with ???cabezudos??™ (big-headed figures), kilikis and zaldikos. On the other hand, the fact that there was no double wall on the Bull Run meant that the bulls escaped into the city's streets on numerous occasions.

In the XX century the fiestas reached the height of their popularity. The novel "The Sun Also Rises" (also known as "Fiesta"), written by Ernest Hemingway in 1926, encouraged people from all over the world to come and take part in the fiesta of Pamplona and personally experience the emotions described by the winner of the Nobel Prizefor Literature achievements. The interest which they arouse today is so great that the amount of people that come is one of the main problems of the Sanfermines which, in the last century, have incorporated new elements such as the Riau-Riau, the Chupinazo or the cultural program.