New Orleans Hotel Collection has announced that it formed a partnership with the Running of the Bulls as it returns by popular demand from July 11 to 14. This is a recent addition to the New Orleans festival schedule, organized as part of the “San Fermin in Nueva Orleans” festival.
The Running of the Bulls started just eight years ago and is an event that mimics the saint’s day festival on the same dates that has taken place for centuries in Pamplona, Spain.
This year, to assist visitors in finding nearby accommodations, the festival organizer, Nola Bulls LLC, has named the New Orleans Hotel Collection hotels as official and exclusive hotel sponsors.
The seven hotels of the collection, including: Bourbon Orleans, Dauphine Orleans, Audubon Cottages, Hotel Mazarin, Hotel Le Marais, Wyndham Riverfront and Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport, are in locations that easy access to the events of the festival. Special negotiated rates better than any online agency are available to those who wish to attend.
The New Orleans Hotel Collection is also the official host for the “Rollerbulls” who are making their way to the festival from around the country.
This year’s festival offers visitors and locals a full cadre of events, including the centerpiece Saturday morning run with more than 600 “rollerbulls” from leagues in Baton Rouge, Houston, Jacksonville and other areas. The “rollerbulls” involve roller derby women from leagues across the country donning “bull” outfits, and chase the red-sashed contestants through the streets of the Vieux Carre, much like the real bulls in Pamplona. As in Pamplona, this is a “run at your own risk” event, with attendance expected to exceed 10,000 this year.
The events on the schedule this year also include a special Spanish wine dinner on Thursday, July 11, hosted by Governor Bernardo de Galvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana from 1799 to 1886. The dinner will be at the historic 1817 Orleans Ballroom of the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, the oldest ballroom in the entire city.
Festival events continue in the evening of the run with the Fiesta de Pantalones (Pants Party) and the following morning’s Pobre de Mi (Poor Me) brunch at noon. A Hemingway contest is also planned.
Nola Bulls LLC was founded in 2007 and is a provider and promoter of entertainment and cultural events in New Orleans. A portion of the proceeds from the festival will go to Animal Rescue New Orleans, an organization dedicated to the rescue of abandoned and homeless animals.
