When is San Fermín 2027
San Fermín 2027 runs 6-14 July, opening with the Chupinazo (rocket-firing ceremony) at noon on 6 July and closing with the Pobre de Mí ceremony at midnight on 14 July. These dates are fixed and don’t shift year to year, unlike the Easter-linked festivals covered elsewhere on this site.
The daily encierro (bull run) takes place at 8:00 AM each morning from 7 to 14 July — eight runs in total across the nine-day festival.
History
The festival honors Saint Fermin, an early Christian martyr and Pamplona’s co-patron saint, whose feast day traditionally fell on 10 October. In 1591, the city moved the religious festival to July to coincide with a separate summer trade fair and bullfighting tradition, merging the two into the modern San Fermín. The encierro itself grew out of a practical need: bulls destined for the evening bullfights had to be moved from corrals outside the city to the bullring, and young men began running alongside and ahead of them as a display of bravado — a practice formalized into today’s regulated bull run sometime in the 19th century.
International recognition of the festival owes a great deal to Ernest Hemingway, whose 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises featured the festival prominently and drew a wave of foreign visitors in subsequent decades.
How it’s celebrated
The encierro covers roughly 850 meters from the corrals to the bullring, taking runners around two to three minutes to complete, though the risk of injury is real and the event has resulted in fatalities over its history — this is not a staged tourist spectacle but genuinely dangerous, and organizers and the city publish detailed safety guidance for anyone considering running.
Beyond the bull runs, San Fermín is a citywide party: participants traditionally dress in white with a red scarf (pañuelo) and red sash, a color scheme tied to Saint Fermin’s iconography. Daily events include giant puppet (gigantes) parades, fireworks each night, and an atmosphere that runs close to around the clock for the full nine days.
Food and customs
Pintxos (Basque and Navarrese small bites, similar to tapas) are eaten throughout the festival, along with the traditional festival breakfast of churros con chocolate for those who’ve been out all night. Sangria and kalimotxo (a mix of red wine and cola, popular in the Basque Country and Navarre) are common festival drinks.
Best places to experience it
- Plaza Consistorial — where the opening Chupinazo ceremony is held, extremely crowded
- Calle Estafeta — a key stretch of the bull run route, popular with spectators watching from balconies and barriers
- Plaza del Castillo — the city’s main square, central to the festival’s ongoing street party atmosphere
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to run with the bulls? It carries genuine risk of serious injury, and the city publishes official safety recommendations; this is not something to attempt without understanding the route and the risks involved.
Do you need tickets to watch the bull run? Watching from the street is free, though space along the route fills early; some balconies and viewing areas are privately rented.
Is San Fermín only about the bull runs? No — the religious procession honoring Saint Fermin, the nightly fireworks, and the citywide party atmosphere are all part of the nine-day festival, with the encierro being only the most internationally famous element.