JULY, BATH: The Spanish are as famous for fiestas as they are siestas, and La Tasca, Bath, are planning to bring the celebrations closer to home with a series of fiesta nights throughout the summer, starting with La Fiesta de San Fermin on July 10th.

La Fiesta de San Fermin is one of the wildest and most famous of all Spanish festivals. It originates from the town of Pamplona where, for hundreds of years, the second week of July has been dedicated to The Running of the Bulls in honour of Pamplona's Saint Fermin who was martyred when bulls dragged him through the streets many centuries ago.

This exhilarating and dangerous daily ritual (which gained world attention from the Hemingway classic 'The Sun Also Rises' in the 20s) sees hundreds of brave/crazy people chased a mile through the streets by large, angry bulls. It is one of Spain's most glorious, and often goriest, traditions and many have been killed in the spectacular stampede of man and beast although unlike St Fermin none of them had been granted sainthood for their pain! Not surprisingly, many thousands go just to party and to experience the electric feeling that permeates the town during the week-long, 24-hours-a-day festivities.

La Tasca's Fiesta de San Fermin will of course be much more politically correct than the bull-blood thirsty Spanish traditions of old. They WILL be letting a bull loose to cause havoc in the streets but only to give out flyers, and look out for the dancing Corona bottle too! And while the Spanish push the celebrations to the limit for a whole week, La Tasca's Fiesta de San Fermin will last for one night only on July 25th.

The 180-seat restaurant on Broad Street is renowned as a place to party, but on this night staff will be pulling out all the stops to make it extra special. The restaurant will be decked out with fencing, bunting and flags, the staff will be dressed in traditional matador costumes and Flamenco dancers and live music will add to the spirit of celebration.

Manager Sarah Campbell said: "It's going to be great fun. At La Tasca we try to recreate Spanish culture as much as we can, and these fiestas give us a chance to party like our compadres in Spain. Most of our staff are Spanish and they're really looking forward to sharing their traditional celebration with customers, and they've invited all their Spanish friends to make a real night of it. We hope people will come and eat, drink and revel in it, just like they do in Pamplona."

To secure your place at this very special event call the restaurant on (01225) 466487 and look forward to a wild night no bull!

La Tasca Spanish Tapas Bar & Restaurant, 36 Broad Street, Bath.