The San Fermin festival kicked off with the traditional midday launching of a firework rocket — known as the Chupinazo — from Pamplona's town hall balcony.

This year’s San Fermin festival got going on Sunday. On the first day of the run, 48 people required medical treatment, including a 46-year-old American who was gored in the neck.

Animal rights activists stage a protest against bullfighting on the eve of the San Fermin 2012 festival in Pamplona. PETA spokesman Ben Williamson says: "PETA has protested at the annual event ...

At the end of the festival’s first run, a bull ran over and sunk one of its horns deep in the neck of a 46-year-old American from San Francisco, Jaime Alvarez, narrowly missing key arteries.

Six men were injured Friday during the eighth and final bull run of Spain's famed San Fermin festival, bringing to 35 the total number of daredevils wounded during this year's fiesta.