We will be in Arles on May 5. On the Arles Amphitheatre web site, it shows a Bullfighting event that day. Here is the posting:

Despedida Paquito Leal

Festival Taurin - Arènes d'Arles

5 Mai - 17h

Is this a bullfight, or a celebration of the career of the bullfighter,Paquito Leal? Also, how do we obtain tickets for the event? The web site did not have a link for booking the event. The cost appears to be 10 euros. Thanks for your help.

https://www.myprovence.fr/en/inspirations/the-feria

This will explain it all -not a bull fight like in Spain as I think no bull dies - anyway read all about it here.

It will be a bullfight, with 6 young bulls. They arena opens as 16:00, and the events will start at 17:00. Reservations are required only for the dinner afterwards, which starts at 19:30 (on the poster, there is a telephone number).

I think, it will be sufficient to buy tickets around 16:00. Maybe the ticket booth opens earlier or you can buy tickets in advance at the booth. They do not offer buying tickets online.

t1959 - Bulls don't get killed, right? I'm not sure now that I think about it?

The bulls are usually killed in Arles. If not, it's called "courses camarguaises" and they usually have those in the summer, beginning July. Bullfights where they kill them are called corridas.

The name of the event is Jeux de Taureaux et Gardiens. I would not assume from that that there will be bulls killed. It's in honor of a famous matador and former director of the bullfighting school in Arles.

If you click on the poster, it will enlarge and you can scroll through a few other photos to see what happens at this event.
No bulls are killed at this type of event - there will be a parade and some demonstrations by the featured matadors.

If you go up to the top of the page and click on "reservation", you'll be able to purchase tickets, but you have to sign in and create an account, first. This is pretty typical on ticket websites. If your home phone number isn't accepted, just enter your hotel's number, instead (nobody will call you).

Maybe I missed something, fuzzbucket, but when I click on "reservation", I find several events in July but not the Festival Taurin on 5 Mai. The programme site says that only the events in July require reservations by internet.

Did you see something else? If yes, tell it OP.

I saw the date the OP mentioned, traveller1959 - you just have to keep scrolling through the site.

Either I am blind or you mix up day and month. The French format is dd/mm/yyyy.

Sometimes at least the bulls in Arles bullfights are indeed tortured and slain during the 'match' - this even though French national law prohibits it except in the Arles area in a nod to long local tradition-but they it seems are only tortured and not killed in this affair.

I abhor all forms of animal abuse and torture and personally would never support it - but others have other takes on that.

http://www.esdaw.eu/bullfighting---france.html

We attended a bull fight in Arles three years ago and were told it was one of their typical events. The bulls were not killed or tortured.

KT - how was it called a bullfight if there was no fight (animal abuse IMO) in the bullfight? Curious?

The bullfighters pulled rings off the bulls' horns. The men (all men that day) were fast and daring and pulled some quite graceful moves but the bulls were not hurt. There were many bull "fighters" and they worked as a team: some to distract the bulls and other to try and get close and retrieve the rings. It really was more of a performance than a "fight."

sounds benign enough to me!