Riau Riau

On the 6th of July, at 4.30 in the afternoon, Sanfermin tradition dictates that everyone should gather for the riau-riau. Nowadays, the motivation is rather differentto the original reason. Up until 1991 the aim of the gathered crowdwas to slowup the procession of the City Council when it set off for The Church of San Lorenzo on the eve of the saint's day. However, City Hall found the occasion more and more untenable and the event was eliminated from the official programme. En essence, it was a rather simple event. Themunicipal band, "La Pamplonesa" played a set piece of music "el Valls de Astráin" and the people danced, sang, drank and blocked the route for as long as possible.

The route was not very long as it covers the stretch between City Hall and The Church of San Lorenzo, through the San Saturnino and Calle Mayor streets. In this tight area of about 500 meters long and about six meters wide, thousands gathered along the route, along with The Giants, the street musicians, etc. The ambience was as crushed as it was exciting, like most things are during these Sanfermin fiestas. The same waltz was played over and over in an almost obsessive way and the rhythm was slow and measured. When the day was particularly hot many people from the balconies threw water down on the packed multitude to give them some relief. If you suffer from claustrophobia then this event, like the "Chupinazo" and the "apartado", are not advisable places to be.

  

After the suspension of the event in 1991, there were various attempts made to retrieve the event, but none of them managed to stick. However, in 2002, after eleven years of "cold turkey" of the "riau-riau", various associations of senior citizens made a call for its restoration and got considerable support from their age-group.

In 2003, they repeated the gathering, and although it continues to be kept off the official program, the event has gathered momentum since then. In 2004,themunicipal brass band, "La Pamplonesa" re-joined the event, so that the only element lacking from the original riau-riau remains the political members of City Hall.

Thus, there are now less pushing and shoving and attempts at blocking the route. What remains is the excitement, the dancing, the afternoon heat, which is always accompanied by plentiful amounts of beverages of all kinds.

This traditional procedure lampooned a very official attendance which was that of the traditional parade of the Town Hall Corporation Members, dressed in morning suits, accompanied with full regalia, from the Town Hall to the church of San Lorenzo, to attend the solemn service on the eve of the Saint’s Day. The route was only some 500 meters along the streets of San Saturnino and San Lorenzo but the purpose of the Riau Riau was an attempt to block and harass the parade as much as possible made by the tightly-packed crowd which was made up of the general public who gathered tightly in front of the marching corporation and ceded their space as slowly and reluctantly as possible. The parade was accompanied by the municipal brass band who used to play a popular piece of music, The Vals de Astrain over and over again as the whole entourage inched its way slowly forward behind the packed crowd.