Analyzing the Bull Running Festival: Tradition, Risks, and Benefits

The Bull Running Festival, or “Encierro,” is a renowned tradition, primarily in Spain, involving a free bull run across an 875-meter course with fighting bulls and tamed oxen. Originating as a method to move bulls to the fighting ring, the festival has evolved from early cattle herding practices to a competitive race. While the Pamplona festival is the most famous, similar events occur in Portugal, France, and historically in England. The festival presents both positive and negative impacts, attracting tourists and boosting the economy but also raising concerns about safety, animal rights, and public order. Despite the risks, the event remains significant for its cultural and historical value, offering a unique experience for participants and spectators alike, emphasizing the need for enhanced safety measures to preserve the tradition responsibly. Desklib offers a variety of study resources, including essays and solved assignments, to aid students in their academic pursuits.

Running head: BULL RUNNING FESTIVAL
Bull Running Festival
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The Bull Running Festival is one of the most well-known tradition of the world,
commonly seen in Spain, known as the “Encierro”. This tradition involves an absolutely free
of charge bull running across 875 meter course of the road with six fighting bulls that are
accompanied by six tamed oxen which runs with the participants through the streets of
Pamplona all the way to the bullring.
The purpose of this essay is to find out about the origins of the Bull Running
Festival as well as its usefulness and effects on the society.
The bull running festival is said to have originated in the past. It is said that the
running of the bulls was an attempt to move the bulls from Pamplona’s corral regions to the
bull fighting ring. This practice is said to be well known even in the 13th century in Spain but
it continued without any interruptions since 1592. Although the festival initially used to take
place in the month of September, since 1592, the festival was shifted to the month of July.
The tradition originated initially when the owners of the bulls used to bring them to the
market for selling, they would sometimes cause their cattle to run in hurry by making them
excited and afraid. This gradually developed into a healthy competition as young people used
to race each other with their bulls, not allowing themselves to be overtaken by their
competitors. In the present times, the bulls are guided to the bull rings where they would be
killed in the evening. As the event became more and more popular every day and was paid
attention to by the masses, it became a tradition which is practised even today.
As stated by Roca-Cuberes (568), the bull running festival involves setting up a
number of fences on both sides of the road to guide the bulls along the roads and to block off
the side streets so that the bulls do not run into the streets. A rocket is fired at 8A.m. in the
morning to signal the runners that the event is about to start. This is followed by firing a
second rocket to signal that the bulls have been released. There are six fighting bulls which

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run along with the participants and there are three steers that motivates the reluctant bulls to
run along with the participant. The bulls are directed to the bull ring where they would fight
each other or be killed. Both the participants and the bulls have to run 875 metres which
consists of four streets of the city, the Town Hall Square and the telephone centre before they
enter the bull ring through the tunnel.
As stated by Pizer (100), although the most popular bull running festival is that of
Pamplona in Spain, there are other countries like Portugal and France also has their bull
running festivals. One such example is the bull run of San Sebastian de Los Reyes in Madrid
which is the second most popular bull running festival after Pamplona. Apart from this, there
is the Cuellar bull run, considered to be the oldest one in Spain. In France, numerous bull
runs happen in the Occitan area, in compliance with the Camargue tradition. In England, the
town of Stamford in Lincolnshire is said to have hosted bull running festivals for 700 years to
be stopped in 1837. Other countries like Portugal also have their own variations of the bull
running festival.
Bull running festivals seems to have both positive as well as negative effects on the
society itself. While the positive effects being, the tradition allows people to participate in it
without any restrictions being free of charge. As stated by Jones (345), it allows the
townspeople to have fun while participating in the tradition. It attracts more than a million
visitors to enjoy the bull running event as well as the festival of San Fermin in the city of
Pamplona. Around 20,000 fans eagerly wait around the bull ring as the bulls are guided to the
area through the city. However, the tradition also has much negative effects on the society as
a lot of inexperienced people tease the bulls which can be dangerous, the event receives
strong oppositions from PETA and other animal rights activists. Apart from these, a lot of
people can get injured or even die from succumbing to the injuries during the bull running
festivals ("Why Running With The Bulls Is More Than A Deathwish"). The authorities have

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a tough time controlling the situation in the city. All these can prove to be a negative situation
on the society during the bull running festivals.
Despite the positive and the negative effects, bull running festivals do seem to have
some usefulness to the society as it allows people to participate in the festivities without any
restrictions. It attracts many participants from various countries of the world which makes it a
good way to boost the economy of the country during this festive time. People all over the
world can gather and interact with each other and get to know each other’s cultures. The
tradition allows the travellers to witness the ancient traditions of bull running in the city
which allows them to have an experience of the event. The tourists from other countries can
also participate in the event if they want making it a free for anybody to participate in the
event. This proves that the event, indeed has some usefulness in the society.
Bull running festival is indeed one of the well-known tradition in Spain and other
countries of the world. Although the festival attracts a lot of tourists around the world to
witness it, it can also become dangerous to people due to their carelessness. Thus, the
authorities must take various means to ensure that the festival is conducted in a safe manner
and none of the individuals get injured or die due to accidents. This would allow the tradition
to be conducted in a safe and accident free manner. Therefore to conclude, Bull running is
indeed one of the most popular traditions in the world.

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Reference List:
Conde, Carlos.D. Outrunning The Bulls At Pamplona Vol. 17, Iss. 2,. The Booklist; Chicago,
2019. Print.
Lin, Xingzhen. "Bullfighting Activities in Spain and Its Prohibition." 3rd International
Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH
2018). Atlantis Press, 2018.
Pizer, Donald. "Hemingway in action: a Dos Passos painting from the 1924 Pamplona
Fiesta." The Hemingway Review 35.1 (2015): 97-101.
Watts, Martin, Ethan M Meisel, and Ian K Densie. "Cattle-Related Trauma, Injuries And
Deaths." Trauma 16.1 (2013): 3-8. Web.