Spectators and participants came out in droves Sunday to celebrate the beginning of Spain's annual San Fermin festival in Pamplona. The mayor fired the chupinazo rocket to open the nine-day festival.

The fiesta, known worldwide for its daily running of the bulls, began with a party in the central square in the city, in which festival-goers threw red wine and cheered on the opening day. The festival will continue through July 14. Its proceedings were popularized in Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises."

The San Fermin festival typically draws over 1 million visitors to the northern Spanish town, and the Pamplona municipal government plans on spending 1 million euros ($1.35 million) on the extravaganza this year. Concerts, dances, fireworks and parades are some of the 443 events scheduled for the 2014 festival.

The bull runs commence at 8 a.m. each day. Participants run through the historic heart of the city being chased by a herd of large bulls. While the runs typically last only four minutes, they are extremely dangerous, and people often are injured when they fall or are gored by the bulls. Coupled with the festival's reputation for all-night parties, runners are even more likely to injure themselves with less-than-sharp senses.

This year, protesters lined the streets demonstrating against the bull runs. Animal rights activists attempted to dissuade tourists from running, carrying signs that read, "You run, bulls die," in multiple languages and covering their hands in fake blood while wearing the red-and-white festival garb.

"Many of the tourists who come to Pamplona to run with the bulls have no idea that they are participating in a festival that celebrates the torture and death of these magnificent animals, and if they did, most would undoubtedly run the other way," said Kirsty Henderson, campaign coordinator for PETA. "We're here to ask thrill seekers to find another way to get their kicks that doesn't involve harming animals."