Day time shows

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.