Page 194 - YGARTUA : The Work Of A Genius

FESTIVAL OF SAN FERMIN

Here I am depicting the excitement, the color, the blood, the

aggression of the bulls in the fantasy of the chase. The bull
was an important part of my upbringing when living in the

Basque Country. Everybody talks about Pamplona and the
Running of the Bulls, it is historical, the San Fermin Festival

that takes place yearly. One must go even if it is a once in a
lifetime trip.

One summer in the Basque Country 1961, one of my friends

from Gorliz asked me if I would like to go to St. Fermin
Festival, it was only two hours from Gorliz, so I hopped on

the back of his motorcycle and we left for the weekend.

All fiestas are celebrated the same way, a lot of drinking,
eating, socializing, etc. We soon figured out that drinking

all night is when accidents happen. It is usually only the
foreigners who think they can run faster than a bull. It is not

just running faster, it is for one kilometer that you have to
keep up the same speed and the locals train all their life for

this run, only professionals know how to do it. My adventure
back in 1961 led me to believe that unless you are an expert

with knowledge of how to run with the bulls then best to stay
on the other side of the boarded streets, and as we did, be a

spectator.

The festival of San Fermín is a weeklong, historically rooted
celebration held annually in the city of Pamplona, Navarre, in

northern Spain. The celebrations start at noon on July 6 and
continue until midnight on July 14. A firework starts off the

celebrations and the popular song “Pobre de mí“ is sung at
the end of celebrations.

SAN FERMIN, 2020 PEN & INK ON CANVAS 72X48 IN. | 182X121 CM.

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