Report on Running Bulls Pamplona

Event Research Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Event research report on Running Bulls Pamplona festival provided a brief summary of
how that event originated, reason for hosting it, importance of this event along with the
marketing methods & its impact on the society or community. The report examined that running
bulls event is popular all over the world but also get protested due to harassment of Bulls. The
report included some recommendation to overcome this issue or protests by animal rights
organizations. Overall various aspects of the selected event are been discussed in the present
research report.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Description of event.........................................................................................................................1
History of the event..........................................................................................................................3
Objectives and Aims .......................................................................................................................4
Success Factors................................................................................................................................5
Marketing.........................................................................................................................................6
Impact..............................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Events are one of the major source of entertainment in today's world which are hosted for
various reasons such as generating incomes, development of society, public recreation etc. The
present event research report is in context to Running the Bulls event that is hosted in Pamplona.
The feast of San Fermin are celebrated in Pamplona, in the area of Navarra, every year from the
6th to 14th of July This study will identify each and every aspects of selected event such as its
history, reason to host, aims and objectives of hosting this event etc. The importance of chosen
event will be identified in this event research report. Furthermore, marketing method used for
Running bulls event will also be determined in this report along with the impact of this event on
community and its people.
Description of event
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Illustration 1: Running Bulls Event
(Source: History of Running Bulls, 2016).

Running bulls is known as world's most exhilarating race that takes place in July on the
cramped streets of Pamplona, Spain for a nine day festival unlike any other. The famous running
of the Bulls in Spain is just a part of three segmented feast called as San Fermin Festival. The
event is hosted and controlled by Pamplona city hall. This event was originated before 14th
century when Spaniards started honoring the passing of Saint Ferman. Both men and women
above 18 years are participating in this event, runners should be sober and can not take pictures
while they are inside the barriers (Van der Wagen and White, 2018). It was a male only event but
the rule changed in 1974 that allowed women to participate in the running bulls event. Bull runs
occur at 8 am during eight mornings where people race with bulls on a 930-yard street course to
the bull-ring. It is also celebrated by children at 10 pm every day, they have their own encierro
where that run with a fake bull filled with fireworks. It is known as a hallmark event as it is
treated as a international cultural event which is held every year in July. It combines celebratory
and religious elements to honor San Fermin who was the first bishop of Pamplona.
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Ill
ustration 2: Bulls and Participants
(Source : Running bulls event, 2016).

History of the event
The San Fermin running bulls is a very old festival which was originated in 14th century,
there are three different festivals which are combined to form San Fermin Festival, The religious
celebration, bullfighting and other commercial celebrations. It was first made popular outside
spain by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel “ The Sun Also rises”. Earlier the event didn't included
real bulls, people in Spain developed a logical need to have fun by racing with real bulls. The
festival was celebrated in September but moved July when there is more reliable weather. In the
year 1591, this festival took place for first time making 7 July as the official date for same event.
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Illustration 3: Bull race
(Source : Significance of the bull event, 2016).

Objectives and Aims
There are various types of running with the bulls, main purpose or objective of tradition
event in Pamplona during the San Fermin festival is to move the bulls from the corral to the
bullring. This event is hosted to attract huge number of people to Pamplona who send money,
celebrate and enjoy the feast day (Lee, Backman and Backman, 2018). It is celebrated for
tradition and religion, before the bull are released in race festival goers chant in which the people
ask San Fermin who was a patron saint for the Spanish people for guiding them in the bull run
and give them his blessing. The chant is followed by yells of “long live San Fermin” etc. The
running bulls event successfully meet its objectives as it highly entertain people and helps in
continuity of the tradition began many years back.
Success Factors
The San Fermin Festival successfully attracts around a million visitors to Pamplona city
in northern Spain from 6 July to 14 July every year. They eat, drink shop and sight-see bu the
main thing that attracts them is the running bulls event. This event is very thrilling and exciting,
people all around the world are attracted to the bull race and dreams to be a part of it despite of
the fact that it can be very dangerous. Today its celebrated as a massive street party that attracts a
huge number of thrill seekers from different countries in the world. The event includes a crowd
surfing, dancing and music on streets of Pamplona. The bullfighting, sangria, fireworks are few
of the major factors that makes this event a success. On the other hand there some issues which
can be a threat for this event, including the protests by animal rights organizations such as PETA
and people who are involved in ethical treatment of animals. They claims that workers use sharp
sticks and electric prods to agitate bulls before they are released into the streets. These protests
can be major threat or issue than can negatively affect running bulls event.
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Marketing
The event is marketed by various websites such as as the fanatics.com, spanish-
fiestas.com etc, it is also market through various tourism companies such as Thomas cook.
People are offered various packages including accommodations and other services that attracts
huge number of visitors to be a part of this thrilling experience. The running bulls event is also
listed within Pamplona tour application that includes detailed information about the event, along
with this social media platforms are also marketing the event such as Facebook groups. There are
various other tourism websites and applications that promote this event as it is one of the most
thrilling event in the world hosted every year. The videos of bull running event are published on
channels such as YouTube that also attracts people all around the world to be a visit this festival.
Impact
Running bulls event has a great impact on the community both in a negative and positive
way, it attracts more than million of people all around the world to visit this celebration or
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Illustration 4: Crowd in San Fermin festival
(Source : What to know about running with the bulls in Pamplona, 2015)

festival. It promotes relation and tradition of the Spanish people that leads to unity among them,
participants wear traditional clothes of white color with a red scarf, religious costumes represent
that priest must wear red dress to honor saints. It is also beneficial for the economy of Pamplona
city, being a small part of northern Spain it has achieved a great development due to San Fermin
festival (Ramsbottom, Michopoulou and Azara, 2018). On the other hand it is also very
dangerous for community and its people, a lot of individual gets injured while participating in the
bull running. In the year 1924, 15 people died after being hurt at the event. Bulls are also getting
harassed during the festival which is a major concern for many animal rights organization, this is
a major negative impact on the animal husbandry or environment.
CONCLUSION
The above report summarized that Running Bulls Pamplona is a popular hallmark event
that attracts a huge number of visitors from various countries. A brief description of this event
has been included in the event research report such as the day and time of the festival. The study
also included history of the event along with its aims and objectives. The selected event has been
celebrated since 14th century by people living in Spain to honor San Fermin as identified by the
report. It also determined that there are various negative and positive impact of running bulls
event on the community and Pamplona such as economic development, promotion of unity and
animal harassment or alcohol abuse. Furthermore, marketing methods such as Facebook,
websites etc used to promote this event are also discussed in the above report. There are various
success factors such as thrill, excitement, music and dance that attract many visitors all around
the world to be a part running bulls event.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to improve this event the organizer needs to ensure that the major threat or cause
of protest by animal rights organizations must be managed and eliminated. The use of sharp
sticks, electric prods on bulls should be avoided, they can also avoid using real bulls. Proper
safety measures can be taken to reduce injuries. In order to promote the event TV advertisement
can be used supporting animal protection and friendly celebration of the event. Furthermore,
people should me motivated to protect their environment by eliminating waste disposal in open
areas. It can help to promote role and purpose of events in development of society or its people.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Van der Wagen, L. and White, L., 2018. Event management: For tourism, cultural, business and
sporting events. Cengage AU.
Lee, J.C., Backman, K.F. and Backman, S.J., 2018. AN INVESTIGATION OF THE
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SERVICE QUALITY, TRANSACTION-SPECIFIC
SATISFACTION AND OVERALL SATISACTION IN PREDICTING
GOLFERS’REPURCHASE INTENTION. Event Management.
Ramsbottom, O., Michopoulou, E. and Azara, I., 2018. Special Issue: Making sense of event
experiences. Event Management, 22(1), pp.1-110.
Online
History of Running Bulls. 2016. [Online]. Available
through:<https://radseason.com/event/running-of-the-bulls-san-fermin-festival-pamplona-spain/
>.
Running bulls event. 2016. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.thefanatics.com/pamplona/about>.
Significance of the bull event. 2016. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-why-people-make-the-crazy-decision-to-run-in-
front-of-a-herd-of-bulls-in-Spain-every-year/articleshow/47991897.cms>.
What to know about running with the bulls in Pamplona. 2015. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/07/07/pamplona-encierro-running-
bulls-facts/29814639/>.
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