Hotel laundry service is limited on the 6th and 7th, and stores are closed on the 7th, an official banking holiday in Pamplona, so you will need to bring enough clothes to see you through the opening days of the fiesta.

The traditional pañuelico is donned at noon on the 6th with the firing of the rockets during the chupinazo, the opening ceremony, not before, and is not taken off and put away until midnight of the 14th during the Pobre de mi, the closing candlelight ceremony.

A sea of red pañuelicos during the chupinazo, the opening ceremony

Note that clothing stores, as well as other shops in the city, will be closed from midmorning on 6 July for the opening ceremony, all day on the 7th, the official banking holiday, and on Sundays. E; Corte Inglés opens from 10:00 to 10:00 daily, Monday through Saturday. retail stores, except those selling festival-related items, close in the afternoon for lunch, with only a few stores reopening after 4:30 p.m..

It is important that you bring a very comfortable pair of shoes as you will be doing a great deal of walking around the city day and night. Although the historic quarter of the city isn't large, the fiesta is spread out over a much wider area, with music venues and special events being held in several different parts of the city, in parks and plazas, some up to a half-hour walk or further, from the Plaza del Castillo, the heart of the old quarter and the center of the fiesta.

Although the City of Pamplona does an amazing job of keeping the streets, plazas and parks clean, you will inevitably encounter broken glass somewhere along your way, especially following the opening ceremony, in the early morning hours of the 7th, or on Saturday and Sunday mornings, when the crowds are at their largest. As a result, sandals and "flip-flops" are not recommended.