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12:00 p.m. July 6 - The Opening Ceremony/Chupinaxo

Held every year in the Plaza Consistorial in front of city hall, the festival officially begins at 12:00 pm July 6. The small square and adjoining streets are packed with people awaiting the opening rocket, fired by the mayor promptly at 12 pm. The ceremony has a rock concert-like ambiance with people holding banners, singing, dancing and spraying each other with champagne and sangria. The first Chupinazo was held in 1941 though informal opening celebrations have been held at midday on July 6 since the early 20th century. A panuelo is a neckerchief, almost always red, worn from midday July 6 until the close of the festival at midnight on July 14. At the opening of festival these scarves are held aloft in two hands by all who chant “San Fermin”, Pamplona’s patron saint. When the rocket fires, pandemonium erupts and the panuelo is tied around your neck.

July 6 - Evening Vespers

The religious evening service held on July 6 in the presence of the full town council at the San Lorenzo church which holds San Fermin’s relics, Pamplona's patron saint. Vespers are sung by a local choir but internationally known.

10:00 p.m. – The Encierillo

Before the morning bull runs, called the “encierro”, there is a “small run” called the “encierillo.” The encierillo involves running the bulls across the river and to their overnight pens to wait for the morning's encierro. When they arrive in Pamplona, the groups of bulls are kept in large corrals across the river from Santo Domingo street. The night before they are due to run, the streets along their path are lined with wooden barricades and they move with cabestros through the streets, across the river and up a hill to a corral at the bottom of Santo Domingo. A limited number of spectators are allowed on the wall near the corral on Santo Domingo but only with a difficult-to-obtain security pass from the town council. The time differs from year to year, sometimes night to night, but is always signaled with the blowing of a ram's horn. The encierrillo is always observed in total silence and the only men in the streets are pastores, ranch hands or herders who work with the bulls for a living. Anyone making any noise, using a flash camera or otherwise distracting the bulls at this point is subject to a fine and incarceration.

10:30 a.m. July 7 - Riau Riau

San Fermin's effigy is brought out of San Lorenzo church at 10:30 am July 7 and it is followed by a solemn and dignified procession of the town council dressed in ceremonial garb, clergymen, the bishop of Pamplona and local townsfolk. Fermin is Pamplona’s patron saint. He was born in Pamplona in the fifth century, the son of a Roman senator who had converted to Christianity. An archbishop at 24, Fermin traveled north to Amiens in pagan Gaul when he was 31 years old and he was martyred there by decapitation. A fragment of his skull was brought to Pamplona in January 1186 and venerated as a sacred relic.

9:30 a.m. Daily July 6-14 - Gigantes

Each day at 9:30 AM in the City Gigantes: The giants of Fiesta, eight (8) larger-than-life figures created in the middle 1800's by a local Navarran artist, Tadeo Amorena. The giants represent the mythical kings and queens of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Beautifully dressed in lace and satin they appear to dance thanks to strong, nimble men who carry the 130 pound statues using internal harnesses. The Gigantes, popular with small children begin their procession through the city each day at 9:30 AM.

7:30 PM in the Bullring - Merienda

A picnic or mid-afternoon snack; during Sanfermines this term refers to the meal eaten in the plaza de toros (bullring) at around 7:30 PM after the third bull has been dragged out. The food is often washed down with sangria bought in newly purchased plastic garbage cans of all sizes.

8:00 a.m. Encierro

The bull run or "encierro" is held every morning of the festival from July 7-14 at 8 a.m. Twelve bulls (6 tame steer and 6 wild black bulls) are released from holding pens and charge through the old city’s streets. This first group is followed by another 3 steer that serve as a kind of clean up crew should any of the wild bulls turn back. They run along a 0.51 mile (825 metre) course arriving at the municipal bullring. The runs are held every morning at 8 am from July 7-14. Anyone sober over the age of 18 can run with the bulls although it is very dangerous.