There are always a good number of free events to
be seen in the mornings. And almost all of them
are worth a visit. Many of them are the same shows
repeated year after year but to find out exactly
where and when they take place you have to check
the official program.
On the 6th of July, one hour and half after the
start of the Festival, there is a folklore show
which takes place at the Plaza de los Fueros. Lots
of different traditional Basque dances can be seen
with groups from Pamplona and other parts of Navarra.
Nearly every day (Check the official programme)
at the same open-air venue, there is a performance
of traditional Basque rural sports on show. It's
not very often that you can get the chance to see
such a variety of these rural sports at the same
time. There are "aizkolariak" (lumber-jacks),
"harrijasotzaileak"(a contest of weight-lifting
with heavy stone boulders), "Txingas"
and other such events.
In
the Media Luna Park there are some days performances
in the afternoon, all of the related to the
basque culture. Everything from traditional
basque singing -"bertsolariak" - where
songs are spontaneously invented and sung on
contemporary social themes of the day. Another
day will have "txistus" - where there
is a concert with the caracteristic tradiotional
basque flute. At that time in the Paseo Sarasate
there will be "jotas" some days -popular
traditional songs from the south of Navarra-.
Every day at 20'30 other regions are represented
in El Bosquecillo; music and dances from Andalucía,
Galicia, Extremadura, etc.
There is also a Fair day held each year on the
7th of July near the Osasuna Futbol Stadium, in a
place called the Garitón of Ripalda. Echoes
of Navarra's rural past, when the buying and selling
of horses and cattle was an important part of the
Sanfermin Festival. And to some degree it is still
a serious business for some country people, as is
evidenced by the number of animals on sale, - about
2.000 horse and cattle brought in from all different
regions (Iparralde, Andalucía, Castilla,
etc.). It starts at 7.o'clock in the morning and
finishes at 15'00 in the afternoon. Worth a visit
if only to see the curious types that the Fair attracts.
And who knows, you might pick up a cheap colt or
mare to take home with you!
Children are particularly well-catered for during
the day-time. In Plaza Conde de Rodezno in the morning
and in the evening - there are shows put on for
kiddies-. It could be a puppet show or clowns or
children's theatre or whatever. Different performances
are given in Basque and Spanish, although here is
a moment when language won't be a big obstacle to
communication.
There are also different kinds of shows put on at
the Bull-Ring in the mornings. Here, there is usually
a cover charge; some day there is a spectacular
show with small steer where the "bullfighters"
have to try to avoid getting hurt by somersalting
the animal and generally using their dexterity to
keep out of the way of the animals. The animals
are not killed. On a different day, there is a contest
where different competitors have to try to hang
rings on the horns of the bulls.
Two of the following days there is usually a free-for-all
where some small but very fast steer are let loose
in the ring and any daredevils who want to try their
luck can play out their fantasies of being bull-fighters.
Some students from the local bull-fighting school
take part in this to show off their dexterity with
the cape. It can usually provide some spectacular
bumps and falls.
Along with all those events the day atmosphere
is really great, specially when the people start
getting their first drink in the afternoon.
