Some people arrive early the morning of July 6 to get their favorite spot, but the Plaza Ayuntamiento really begins to fill up starting around 9:30 am as more people find their way and by noon the crowd fills the small plaza with more than 15,000 festival goers, with 10s of thousands more filling the streets leading to the plaza and several thousands more filling the Plaza del Castillo, the center of the fiesta, watching everything on the giant screens set up in the plaza.  Most people are dressed in the traditional white and red, swaying back and forth as if in a giant mosh pit.  Before long, most are covered from head to toe in cheap red wine.  

As the morning progresses the intensity of the crowd grows as they await the clock atop the town hall to strike high noon when the first of several rockets, el chupinazo (txupinazo in Basque) will be fired from the balcony of the mayor’s office overlooking the town hall square.  “Viva!”, Gora!” comes the cry, followed by ”Pamploneses, Pamplonesas, Viva San Fermín! Gora San Fermín!”  The crowd erupts.  The fiesta has begun.

If you plan on joining the crowd in the “mosh pit”, do not wear any clothes you value, do not wear sandals or carry a camera.  This is also not the place for children.  You and the children would be better off watching from the comfort of a balcony.

Contact Sanfermín Tours if you’d like to join Peña Seattle de Sanfermines in Pamplona for the fiesta.