First come the abrivado and bandido, when the bulls go through the villages, corresponding to the path that was once taken by the herds from the pastures to the bullring, and then from the bullring to the pastures, under the supervision of horse-mounted herdsmen, the gardians.
The sight is worth the detour: the galloping herd is pursued by the atrapaïres, young people who try to catch the tails of the bulls with their bare hands.
The evening is the time for encierros, when heifers are released in the village. The young people of the village then attempt to touch and excite the animals. A word of warning: running behind the bulls is dangerous and accidents occur every year.
In some villages, like Baillargues, where the Bull Festival takes place on the first Friday of June, Camargue races are also organised. In the bullrings, raseteurs try to grab hold of the trinkets that hang from the horns of the bulls (rosettes, tassels, twine, etc.), proving their speed and flexibility to avoid being caught by the animals.
Montpellier Métropole has recently organised the Bullfighting Trophy in eleven municipalities (Baillargues, Castries, Lattes, Le Crès, Pérols, Saint-Géniès-des-Mourgues, Saint-Georges d’Orques, Vendargues and Villeneuve-lès- Maguelone).
