San Fermín: Pamplona's festival in red and white

San Fermín is Pamplona's famous week-long festival, known worldwide for its morning bull runs. Beyond the encierro, the city celebrates with parades, music, fireworks and non-stop street parties, with everyone dressed in white and a red scarf.

Fun facts

• The festival opens at noon on 6 July with the chupinazo rocket fired from the town hall balcony.
• Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises made the festival world famous.
• It ends at midnight on 14 July with the song Pobre de mí.

What to see

• The chupinazo opening ceremony in front of the town hall.
• The parade of giants and big-heads (gigantes y cabezudos).
• The nightly fireworks over the Citadel park.

What to taste

• Pintxos, small snacks in the bars of Calle Estafeta and San Nicolás.
• Txistorra, a thin Basque-Navarrese sausage.
• Navarra rosé wine, a regional speciality.

What to do

• Watch the bull run from a rented balcony or the bullring.
• Dress in white with a red scarf.
• Join the street music bands (peñas).

💡 Tip: Running is dangerous; watching is safer. Bilbao airport has buses to Pamplona, and hotel prices rise sharply during the festival.