Bullfighting is a popular, traditional, and annual sport in Pemba Island. Pemba bullfights are relic of Portuguse occupation of the island, which occurred during the16th and17th centuries. Drumbeats, men and women sing local songs to make the event lively and spur on both bull and matador.

On the actual fight, the bull is brought to the small platform where women sing and clap their hands to arouse the bull’s anger. A special traditional trumpet is sounded adjacent to the ears of the bull for the same purpose. Then the bull is set free into the ground having one rope at its neck for emergence. The man on the ground who want to fight the bull take a piece of mat, and as the bull moves head fast to him, he plays it off and the whole ground applaud. When one bull becomes tired it is replaced by another and sometime the whole fight may involve 4 to 6 bulls.

Unlike bullfighting elsewhere, in Zanzibar at the end of the fight the bull remains a live and is trained for the forthcoming game. There are no specific dates when the bullfighting’s are organized but sometimes it is done after clove harvesting or during the state ceremony such as Revolutionary Day of Zanzibar.