Unit7-Part1-Reading

festival of Saint Fermine. The festival of Saint Fermine takes place in the

Spanish city of Pompona from July 6th to July 14th. It begins with an opening

ceremony and ends with the farewell song at midnight on the 14th. Each year

more than one million visitors come to Pompona to attend the festival. This

festival is a nine -day celebration. There are fireworks displays every night,

bands play music all the time, and people sing with them and dance in the

streets. The festival has many other events too. The most famous one is the

running of the Bulls. There is a bull run every morning from July 7th to July 14th.

Each run begins at 8 a .m. and lasts only two to three minutes. Thousands of people

run with bulls on the narrow cobblestone streets. The run ends in the bull ring.

Bull fights begin later. The barricades on each side of the streets protect the

spectators from the bulls. The runners usually wear white clothes. They wear

red scarves and red berets too. They can leave the run whenever they want. Runners

must be over 18 years old to take part in the runs. Before each run a rocket goes

off to warn the people that the bulls are out. Then people begin to run in front of

a group of six bulls. Most runners don't stay in front of the bulls all the time.

Running with bulls is a thrilling activity for the runners, but it causes

accidents and injuries from bull horns or slipping on the cobblestones. About 10

people die in bull runs in different cities of Spain every year. Running with

bulls originated at the beginning of the 14th century. At the time while men were

transporting bulls to sell them at the market, they ran in front of them. They

tried to make the bulls move faster. This slowly turned into a popular sport

and became a part of the festival.