In pictures: Fiesta in Pamplona

Fighting bulls charging through the streets, people diving off fountains, wine flowing freely: it's the San Fermin festival in the northern Spanish town of Pamplona.

The fiesta, made famous by US author Ernest Hemmingway, started on 6 July with the 'Chupinazo' and cries of 'Long Live San Fermin' - the patron saint of the region.

Revellers, who now come from around the world, traditionally dress in white clothes and red scarves. The scarves are sometimes left at the church at the end of the fiesta.

Although best known for the bull runs, the festival has other, more recent, traditions - such as jumping off a fountain into the arms of waiting friends.

You have to hope they are strong and sober enough to catch you, as hitting the cobbled street can hurt.

The revellry continues until 14 July when, after a week of bull-running and drinking, the exhausted crowd sing 'Pobre de mi' - 'Poor me.'

Bullfights are held in Pamplona only during the Sanfermines (as the festival is known) and not at other times of the year.

In a bid to make the bull-runs safer for man and beast, the town's cobbled streets have been painted with a non-slip coating - but it was not fully effective for one bull.

No-one was injured on the first day, but the bull runs continue until 14 July and gorings are common.

But the festival is not popular with everyone, and animal rights protesters have staged naked demonstrations against the bullfights held during San Fermin.

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