Not long to go ...
Not long to go ...
Greg Strachey and his two friends, James and Ali visited Pamplona for Sanfermin Fiestas in 2010 and they filmed their experience from the moment of their departure in Leeds (England) for their own video "Running with Giants". The three young protagonists came to Pamplona on a trip organized by Pillow Tours. The trip was made by coach and the destination was a camping site outside Pamplona with a daily coach service into the city for fiestas. Greg is a student of photo-journalism and he has managed to make a documentary of his experience on video and here we can discover some of the experiences that our foreign visitors go through when they come to the annual Sanfermin fiestas from different European countries. The most interesting aspect is the perspective of the report in showing how some young people arrive just wanting to spend a good time. Greg Strachey rates his trip as unforgettable and an incredible experience and he hopes with his video to encourage his fellow countrymen to check out Pamplona during the Sanfermin fiestas. Greg warns all potential foreign visitors to try to comprehend the tradition of the running of the bulls and its importance within the whole fiesta program.
Greg, James and Ali all underwent the tough coach trip before finally arriving at the camp site. Their experience is surely similar to that made by many of our European visitors. They arrived in time to notice the transformation of the city when the Chupinazo goes off and the partying begins. They had to sleep off their first hangover in the camping site even before the opening rocket went off. They had an incident with the local police force on the 5th of July when one of their drinking friends accepted a bet to run round the main square in the nude. The following day they dressed up in the traditional red and white gear and went off to attend the Chupinazo opening rocket and its wild party scene. They saw the best and worst of the whole scene and soon they had lost contact with each other amid the surging crowds. They ran in three of the running of the bulls and they saw how the local runners are conscious of the tension and danger of the run in the moments before the bulls were released onto the street. They played with the young heifers in the bullring and they partied through the nights. It can all be seen on YouTube for free where the video is separated into four parts: part 1, parte 2, parte 3 and parte 4.
