The Festival of San Fermin, 2009

The Festival of San Fermin attracts thousands of visitors to Pamplona, Spain every year. The nine-day festival includes a carnival, bullfights and of course, the famous Running of the Bulls. Deeply traditional, it has been held since 1591, and remains a popular, if dangerous and controversial event. This year, dozens of runners and revelers have been injured, and one has been killed - a 27-year-old man who was gored in the neck, heart and lungs on Friday. Animal rights groups continue to level criticism toward the event, in which dozens of bulls run through small, packed streets toward a bullring where they will be killed during later bullfights. Collected here are some of the scenes from this year's Festival of San Fermin. (32 photos total)

Spanish bullfighter "El Fandi" performs with a Jandilla ranch fighting bull named Capuchino during the fourth bullfight of San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain on Friday, July 10, 2009. Capuchino fatally gored Spanish runner Daniel Jimeno Romero during an earlier running of the bulls. Romero was declared dead shortly after his arrival at hospital. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

People celebrate and splash sangria in front of the Town Hall, as they celebrate the launching of Chupinazo, the rocket that opens the San Fermin Fair on July 6, 2009, in Pamplona. (JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images) #

Revelers react as water is thrown from a balcony lands during the Chupinazo, the official opening of the 2009 San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona on Monday, July 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) #

People, wearing traditional red bandanas, pack together as they celebrate the start of the San Fermin Fair on July 6, 2009 . (A. ARRIZURIETA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A huge crowd hold up their traditional red bandanas on July 6, 2009 during the 'Chupinazo' in Pamplona, Spain. (A. ARRIZURIETA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A drunk reveller kneels on the ground as he tries to enter a building before the first day of the running of the bulls during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Susana Vera) #

People watch as Fuente Ymbro fighting bulls run past on the seventh day of the San Fermin Festival bull run, on July 13, 2009, in Pamplona, Spain. (A. ARRIZURIETA/AFP/Getty Images) #

People run alongside a Jandilla fighting bull during the fourth bullrun of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 10, 2009. (REUTERS/Susana Vera) #

Runners are chased by Cebada Gago fighting bulls on the second day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Vincent West) #

A Miura bull falls at the Estafeta corner on the sixth day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso) #

Photographers take pictures as runners and bulls pass by on Estafeta Street during the third run with El Ventorrillo fighting bulls at the San Fermin festival, in Pamplona on Thursday, July 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) #

The fingers of festival goers cling to a barrier at the Estafeta corner on the sixth day of the running of the bulls in Pamplona on July 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso) #

A runner moves his hand toward a Cebada Gago fighting bull on the second day of the running of the bulls in Pamplona on July 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso) #

A runner curls up after being passed over by Fuente Ymbro fighting bulls at the Estafeta corner on the seventh day of the running of the bulls in Pamplona on July 13, 2009. (REUTERS/Vincent West) #

A bull trips on fallen runners during the seventh bullrun of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 13, 2009. (REUTERS/Susana Vera) #

A man is gored by a Miura fighting bull, caught under his jaw by a horn, during the sixth run of the bulls on July 12, 2009, in Pamplona. The man was taken to a local hospital. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images) #

A 58-year-old runner from France, identified as J.F., is attended to by emergency services after being injured during the third day of the running of the bulls in Pamplona on July 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Vincent West) #

A young bull attacks several revellers in the Plaza de Toros at the end of the second running of the bulls in Pamplona on July 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso) #

Flamenco dancers perform next to Sevillian show horses at the Plaza de Toros on the fourth day of the the San Fermin festival on July 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso) #

A child cries next to a "Kiliki" or big head during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Vincent West) #

Boys run from the "Fire Bull", a man carrying a metal bull structure loaded with fireworks, at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso) #

A minute of silence is observed for David Jimeno Romero before the fourth bullfight of San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, Friday, July 10, 2009. A bull named "Capuchino" fatally gored Spanish runner Romero during the morning running of the bulls. Romero was declared dead shortly after his arrival at hospital. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

A "recortador" performs with a fighting bull at the Plaza de Toros on the sixth day of the San Fermin festival on July 11, 2009. (REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu) #

Colombian matador Luis Bolivar waits before making the "Paseillo" at the beginning of a bullfight in Pamplona, Spain on Tuesday, July 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

Colombian matador Luis Bolivar performs witha wounded bull during the first bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on Tuesday, July 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

The Spanish matador known as El Cid is carried away to the infirmary after being gored by the fighting bull, EL Ventorrilo, during a corrida at the San Fermin festival, on July 9, 2009, in Pamplona. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images) #

Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla adjusts his montera (bullfighter's hat) before the sixth bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Susana Vera) #

Spanish matador Sergio Aguilar gives a pass to his Esteban Gago fighting bull during a corrida of the San Fermin festivities on July 8, 2009, in Pamplona. (JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images) #

Spanish matador Serafin Marin is gored and tossed by a wounded bull during a bullfight on July 11, 2009, in Pamplona. (A. ARRIZURIETA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A Jandilla's ranch fighting bull bleeds from its nose and mouth near the end of the fourth bullfight of San Fermin festival in Pamplona on Friday, July 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

Spanish matador Salvador Cortes drives a sword into his first Alcurrucen fighting bull during the first corrida of the San Fermin festivities, on July 7, 2009, in Pamplona. (JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images) #

French matador Sebastian Castella gives a wave after killing the fighting bull, EL Ventorrilo, during a corrida at the San Fermin festival, on July 9, 2009, in Pamplona. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images) #