NEW ORLEANS – For a moment, New Orleans looks like the streets of Pamplona, Spain.
It’s the big easy version of the run with roller derby girls decked out with homemade horns for bulls.
And these bulls have plastic bats to combat the runners.
WGNO News with a Twist features reporter Wild Bill Wood says you can still register for the run.
San Fermin in Nueva Orleans, as it’s called, benefits two charities.
Here’s what the bulls want you to know about running with them this year:
The 11th Annual Running of the Bulls at San Fermin in Nueva Orleans (SFNO) is the city’s most incredible Summer Spectacle!
Join thousands of runners as they roam the streets of New Orleans and party with hundreds of Rollerbulls (roller derby skaters with horns on their helmets and plastic bats in their hands) from around the globe during the Encierro.
Running of the Bulls in New Orleans started because someone told Los Pastores that the secret to getting rich was to start a festibal that was free and open to the public. Now that they’re all broke, Los Pastores have decided to start charging a registration fee to cover operating expenses and raise a bit of money for charities along the way.
Self-titled “El Padrino” (The Godfather) of San Fermin in Nueva Orleans, Mickey Hanning was born on the Westbank of New Orleans. During an inebriated Mardi Gras in 2001 he promised a comrade he would test his bravado in Pamplona. One-and-a-half years later, he made good on that promise to attend Sanfermines (the festival in Pamplona). During Mardi Gras 2007, he & La Madrina birthed the idea of San Fermin in Nueva Orleans after seeing a friend dressed as a Correro (runner). He quickly found other integral Pastores to make it happen.
