 Very similar to Pomplonada, Spain's Running of the Bulls annual event, Sanmiguelada, is an annual Mexican version that takes more than simple courage to be a part of -- it takes tequila!
Well, that may not be true. But a little tequila couldn't hurt if you're about to face thousands of pounds of raging bulls on the narrow streets of this mountain community.
More than 20,000 tourists and curiosity seekers flock to San Miguel every year to join in on a weekend of heavy drinking and robust celebration.
Modelled on a similar event in Spain that was made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises”, the town of San Miguel de Allende hosts this fun fiesta and bull run that attracts wannabe cowboys and cowgirls from across the world. Held in honour of Saint Michael the Archangel, participants may wish to say a prayer to ask for safekeeping during this boisterous event that can end in injury for the runners if the charging bulls catch up with them. But after the main event of the bull running, visitors can relax a little with the sights, sounds and tastes of a traditional Mexican fiesta.
According to the online San Miguel Guide (http://www.sanmiguelguide.com/), at noon on Saturday, Sept. , hundreds of brave individuals wearing white shirts and red bandannas go within the barricaded areas of San Miguel's town square where usually a dozen or more specially raised bulls have been set loose, while many more hundreds of spectators look on, safely behind the metal barricades.
Many of San Miguel's restaurants and bars lucky enough to have a vantage point charge admission to see the event in their more comfortable surroundings. Mexican national television also broadcasts the event live.
Chasing whoever they may, the bulls are not at all tame, and usually not very happy to be there. Every year there are hundreds of injuries, and, unfortunately, deaths are not unusual.
For most however, the attraction is not necessarily running with the bulls, but the wild three day party surrounding it. Though very few young women actually enter the barricades to run with the bulls, many, many of them are on the sidelines to cheer on their boyfriends or to perhaps to meet their future love. At the Pamplonada in San Miguel, like the Fort Lauderdale at spring break, many of the 'rules' are thrown aside, and the boy-girl alchemy is running at its peak.
With Sunday, comes a deluxe traffic jam as the exodus begins, and the bleary-eyed participants, some of them nursing broken bones, many more nursing broken hearts, make their way home.
The 2007 event is scheduled for Sept 22. Good luck!
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