Caxton Manor Concierge Services and Event Planning

Bull, anyone?

The Running of the Bulls involves running in front of a small group of bulls that have been let loose on a 826 metre course that takes 4 minutes to complete, in a sectioned-off old part of the city of Pamplona. This is the most famous running of the bulls as it a 7-day festival of Sanfermines in Pamplona, although they are held in towns and villages across Europe and some parts of southern America. The great news is that anyone may participate in an encierro. The true origin of this began during the early 14th century when men would attempt to speed up transporting cattle to the market to sell by creating excitement. This practice slowly turned into a competition, with young adults racing in front of the bulls and trying not to be overtaken. This sounded like so much fun! And then we read that every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run and since 1910, 15 people have been killed in Pamplona. Being the cowards we are, we called in the cavalry: Champagne, tapas canapés, our vocal cords for screaming, our pointy fingers, well, for pointing, and of course, our expertise at bull running. Then we put ourselves in the hands of Pamplona Balconies who hoisted us to one of their penthouse balconies on ‘Dead Man’s Corner’ overlooking Plaza Consistorial for our little watch party. I’m not expecting us to last till 10am… this is such hard work!