Bull Fights

Last night a friend of ours invited us to go to the Portuguese Bull Fights with them in Stevinson.  We were a bit reluctant to go, but we decided to go for awhile and check it out.

They were quite interesting.  Slow moving but interesting.  It starts with a ceremony with the Portuguese president from whatever area is being represented that night (this particular night it was Modesto) and the "queens" and their side maids.  A live Portuguese band plays the National Anthem and the Portuguese National Anthem.  The first event is a person on horseback trying to throw Velcro darts into a Velcro vest that the bull is wearing.

Portuguese president from Modesto and Queens.

The two teams competing.  Apparently one team is from the valley the other team is "off the boat" from Portugal.

The second part of the bull fights consists of a team of 8 guys that go after the bull.  One guy temps the bull and gets the bull in a head lock, while the other guys grab the bull and pull the darts off the bull.  They get three attempts at grabbing the bull and pulling the darts out of the bull.  The first guy to try this got cut down his face from the bull's horn, but he kept going.  On his third attempt his team was able to hold the bull and get the darts.

The person tempting the bull.

The team holding the bull to pull off the darts.

We only stayed for the first half of the event.  We had to go to work the next day and as slow as they were moving, it probably wouldn't have been over with till midnight or later.  It was interesting.  A little insight into my ancestor's culture.