In the beginning of 2020, there were many different cultural events I have personally witnessed and attended in Trujillo, Spain, where I studied abroad but the one that had the town talking was Carnival. Carnival is a special event that causes people to party non-stop usually from Friday until Tuesday. The children are usually out of school until the end of the week. Not only do the adults take part in this celebration, but also the kids, visitors and more. The bars and clubs are open and everyone is dressed up in their different costumes.

The first night of Carnival, fireworks went off late at night and the whole city was awakened. On Saturdays, everyone was outside lined up to purchase their ticket to see the bulls running on the streets. Everyone was in different costumes, some were dressed like aliens, some were dressed as cows and some weren’t dressed in costumes at all.

The first event that was held was the flighting with the calves. The calves are mini bulls with mini horns that run very fast. Some children participate in this event, you only have to be 13 years old and up to participate. Everyone is teasing the bulls and trying to get the bull to chase them and when the bull gets too close, they go behind the red cage so that the bull is unable to get them.

Later that day, they had the running of the bulls. People all lined up to be chased by the bulls, some people even held onto the railing so they wouldn’t have to run with the bulls. The bigger bulls came out, however it was only scarier. These bulls had huge horns and were twice the size of the calves. More men participated in this event instead of the women or the kids.

Carnival was a once in a lifetime experience. I was able to learn so much about the Spanish culture, try many different foods and interact with people who traveled from all over for this event.