--- title: Photos of the Running of the Bulls at the 1947 San Fermin Festival description: The annual event in Pamplona is a celebratory, controversial and occasionally gory tradition. canonical: https://time.com/3936144/running-of-the-bulls/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-06T11:30:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:48.601Z og:title: When the Running of the Bulls Was So Hectic No One Noticed That Two Men Died og:description: The annual event in Pamplona is a celebratory, controversial and occasionally gory tradition. og:url: https://time.com/3936144/running-of-the-bulls/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1d2584d03464254/6988586135ba6f1ec6c0dee9/150625-san-fermin-festival-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: San Fermín Festival 1947 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When the Running of the Bulls Was So Hectic No One Noticed That Two Men Died twitter:description: The annual event in Pamplona is a celebratory, controversial and occasionally gory tradition. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1d2584d03464254/6988586135ba6f1ec6c0dee9/150625-san-fermin-festival-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When the Running of the Bulls Was So Hectic No One Noticed That Two Men Died  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 6, 2015 11:30 AM CUT  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947.Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 6, 2015 11:30 AM CUT The festival of San Fermín, held every July in Pamplona, Spain, since the 16th century, has its origins in religious tradition, honoring a Catholic saint now nearly 2,000 years martyred. But the celebrations have become increasingly secular over the years, with round-the-clock revelry—and nostalgia for a world Ernest Hemingway so vividly painted in _The Sun Also Rises_—drawing visitors from around the world. The festival’s most enduring legacy is the running of the bulls, or _encierro_, from the Spanish word for to corral or enclose. Held on the second day of the festival, July 7, the _encierro_ consists of letting loose a small number of bulls in the city streets while transporting them to the bullring for bullfighting. Though it takes place during several festivals, the _encierro_ at San Fermín is the most world-renowned. The running of the bulls and ensuing bullfight have been the subject of criticism from animal rights groups like PETA, which say it tortures animals for human entertainment. But it’s not just the animals whose lives are endangered. In 1947, when LIFE sent photographer Tony Linck to document the mayhem, two bull runners—men who run in front of the bulls—were gored, and the crowd was too enraptured with the bedlam to notice: --- > “” --- More than a dozen people have died during the festivities in the last century. Consequently, several safety measures have been established to improve the safety of revelers, including rules banning poor footwear, inebriation and harassing the bulls during the run. But there will always be more than a hint of danger in the annual tradition. The danger, of course, is part of the fun. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947. Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3936144/running-of-the-bulls/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3936144/running-of-the-bulls/"},"headline":"When the Running of the Bulls Was So Hectic No One Noticed That Two Men Died","datePublished":"2015-07-06T11:30:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:48.601Z","description":"The annual event in Pamplona is a celebratory, controversial and occasionally gory tradition","url":"https://time.com/3936144/running-of-the-bulls/","keywords":["photography","LIFE Magazine","1947"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1d2584d03464254/6988586135ba6f1ec6c0dee9/150625-san-fermin-festival-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1d2584d03464254/6988586135ba6f1ec6c0dee9/150625-san-fermin-festival-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"San Fermín Festival 1947","caption":"The festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, 1947.","creditText":"Tony Linck—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/photography/","name":"photography"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3936144/running-of-the-bulls/","name":"When the Running of the Bulls Was So Hectic No One Noticed That Two Men Died"}}]}] ```