Every year, the Festival of San Fermin attracts thousands of visitors to Pamplona, Spain. Over the course of nine days, the festival hosts many bullfights, a carnival, fireworks, and of course, the encierro, or "running of the bulls." Held since 1591, San Fermin remains a popular, if also dangerous and controversial event: Several people have been gored already this year, and the festival continues until July 14th. Collected below are some scenes from the first few days of this 2011's Festival of San Fermin.
The Running of the Bulls
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Read moreA Torrestrella ranch fighting bull is seen during a bullfight at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, Spain, on July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreChilean Alonso Ceardi poses with a picture that shows when he was severely gored during the running of the bulls at the 2010 San Fermin Festival in Pamplona. Ceardi nearly died from the goring, but said he would run again at this year's festival. #
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Read moreAttendees hold up traditional red scarves as tens of thousands of people packed Pamplona's main square in Spain, on July 6, 2011 to celebrate the start of Spain's most famous bull-running festival with the annual launch of the "chupinazo" rocket. #
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Read moreParticipants hold traditional red scarves during the 'Chupinazo' to mark the start at noon sharp of the San Fermin Festival on July 6, 2011. #
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Read moreFestival goers celebrate during the Chupinazo on July 6, 2011 in Pamplona, Spain. #
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Read moreParticipants react as water is thrown from a balcony during the 'Chupinazo' in Pamplona, Spain, on July 6, 2011. #
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Read moreFestival goers gather during the 'Chupinazo', the official opening of the 2011 San Fermin Festival on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 in Pamplona, Spain. #
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Read moreRevelers smile during the 'Chupinazo', in Pamplona, Spain, on Wednesday July 6, 2011. #
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Read moreA man celebrates during the 'Chupinazo' on July 6, 2011 in front of the Town Hall of Pamplona, northern Spain. #
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Read moreA woman drinks wine during the 'Chupinazo', on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 in Pamplona, Spain. #
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Read moreA festival goer jumps from a fountain at the Plaza de Navarreria during the start of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, on July 6, 2011. #
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Read moreA man lies injures on the ground after leaping from the Navarre, a fountain in Pamplona, Spain Wednesday July 6, 2011 at the start of Spain's most famous bull-running festival. The man was not caught by other revelers and fell directly to the ground seriously injuring himself. At the time of the photograph, there were no further details on his condition. #
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Read moreA man sleeps after the first running of the bulls, on July 07, 2011, in Pamplona, Spain. #
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Read moreWorkers carry the stuffed body of a bull named Bravio to stand in a hall at a hotel in Pamplona, Spain, Friday July 1, 2011. #
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Read moreA couple kiss after the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival on Friday, July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreA "Kiliki" tries to calm down a frightened boy during San Fermin Festival's "Comparsa de gigantes y cabezudos" (Parade of the giants and the big heads) in Pamplona, on July 8, 2011. Enormous puppets accompanied by brass bands parade daily through the city during the nine-day-long festival made popular by U.S. writer Ernest Hemingway. #
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Read moreParticipants run next to Torrestrella ranch fighting bulls on Estafeta street during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival on Thursday, July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreA tourist takes photos from a balcony on Calle de la Estafeta before the first running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival on Thursday July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreA man falls next to a steer during the first bull run of the famous running of the bulls in Pamplona, on July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreFestival goers run on the Estafeta corner ahead of Jose Cebada Gago ranch bulls during the second running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival on Friday July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreA photographer prepares his camera on the famous Estafeta Corner before the start of the second running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival on Friday July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreRevelers run on the Estafeta corner as one bull falls during the second running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona northern Spain, Friday July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreMen are pinned by a leading bull, used to drive the fighting bulls during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival, on Thursday, July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreTwo policemen arrest a man too drunk to take part in the second San Fermin Festival bull run, on July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreA man tries to avoid a steer that broke away from the pack of fighting bulls during the second day of the San Fermin running-of-the-bulls on July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreParticipants run with Cebada Gago's fighting bulls during the second San Fermin Festival bull run, on July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreA calf jumps into the arena after the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival on Thursday, July 7, 2011, in Pamplona, Spain. #
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Read moreA runner is trampled in the bullring following the second running of the bulls of the San Fermin Festival, on July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreBullfighter assistants wait before a bullfight at the San Fermin Festival, on Thursday, July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreMexican bullfighter Arturo Saldivar prepares for the start of the first bullfight of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, on July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreMexican bullfighter Arturo Saldivar performs during a bullfight at the San Fermin Festival, on Thursday, July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreRejoneador (bullfighter on horseback) Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza performs at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 6, 2011. #
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Read moreSpanish novillero bullfighter Jimenez Fortes falls in front of the horns of a bull during a bullfight in Pamplona, Spain, on Tuesday, July 5, 2011. Fortes fell in front of the bull and managed to roll over to avoid the horns, lucky to be unhurt in the incident. Novilleros, is the stage prior to becoming a 'matador' where bullfights are performed with young bulls. #
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Read moreMexican bullfighter Arturo Saldivar performs a pass with a bull during the first bullfight of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 7, 2011. #
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Read moreA dead bull is dragged away following a bullfight by Rejoneadores at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, on July 6, 2011. #
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Read moreMexican bullfighter Arturo Saldivar performs during a bullfight at the San Fermin Festival, on July 7, 2011. #
AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza
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