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Planning a trip to New Orleans for the Running of the Bulls? Get the best rates on hotels in the French Quarter and other New Orleans hotels on NewOrleans.com. 

The Running of the Bulls will take place from July 14, 2012, promptly at 8 a.m.in the French Quarter. That is when thousands flock to complete the run and then kick off a day-long street party that will eventually run into that night's continuation of the same.

But this is not any early morning fun run. It is part of the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans celebration, a bastardized mirroring of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Instead of trekking from the stockyard to the bullfighting arena, the New Orleans contestants cover the distance between the two bars, often in the casual loping gait of someone still hung-over from the pre-party the night before.

Unlike traditional Spanish bull runs, there will be members of roller derby teams; the Big Easy Rollergirls and neighboring leagues, portraying bulls. The race begins promptly at 8 am and the bulls, wearing skates, horns, red attire and wielding bats chase after the runners who are dressed in all white with only a piece of red.

There are only five rules for attending the bull run: Run at your own risk! Do NOT touch the bulls. If you go down, stay down. Do NOT stand still. And lastly, children under ten (or those that don't want to be hit) use the sidewalk.

Once the run is over somewhere around 8:30 am a huge block party will start. There will be food, drinks and merchandise vendors where of course you can buy a Big Easy Rollergirl or a Running of the Bulls t-shirt for a fond memory, and mix and mingle with the bulls if you would like.

Mickey Hanning, "El Padrino" (The Godfather) of the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans started the festival in 2007 after he ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. For years, the festival has celebrated the annual running of the bulls but with a more humane approach. It's a great time of the year and one of the best ways to "run with the bulls" if you can't go to Pamplona.

The easiest way to keep up with all the events happening in the Big Easy is to regularly check the NewOrleans.com calendar.