It’s an all weekend party featuring bulls, tapas parties and the Roller Girls! The fiesta celebrates the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans (SFNO), featuring the running of the bulls throughout the Quarter Saturday Morning. The esteemed members of the Big Easy Roller Girls pose as “bulls,” pursuing the crowd like the real longhorns who run in the world famous Encierro of Pamplona, Spain. The customary attire consists of white clothing with a red bandanna. Be ready to go at 7 a.m. at the Three Legged Dog Bar – the running will begin promptly at 8 AM, finishing at Ernst Café. There will be plenty of other parties, gatherings, food and merriment all weekend. See you out in the sun for some fun with the bulls!
A music festival in New Orleans? Sure, we’ll bite. Add in a ferry trip to Algiers and we’re sold (we have a thing for Algiers). Get back in workweek grind withWednesdays at The Point. Featuring a Latin Dance Party with Fredy Omar Con su Banda, this lively party will entertain you and your friends with great music, food and wine. Proceeds benefit Algiers Economic Development Foundation. All shows are in Historic Algiers Point from 6 to 9 PM (series runs until September).
Have you been looking for a furry addition to your family (perhaps a visit to City Bark)? Come out to An Adoption Option, sponsored by the LA/SPCA. LA/SPCA adoption counselors and volunteers will be on hand to help you select the right pet for your family. Even if you can’t make it this weekend, remember the LA-SPCA is always around for you to come in and receive information, play with their four-legged flock, volunteer and possibly adopt a sweet, loving animal. Saturday July 10th. 11AM to 3 PM at Jefferson Feed, 4421 Jefferson Highway. $105 for puppies and kittens, $80 for adult cats and dogs.
For a day-trip excursion from the city’s grit and grime, check out Fontainebleu State Park, located in Mandeville. Open at 7 a.m. almost every day, the park features neat programs like the “Survivor Series,” a weekly event focusing on wilderness survival skills like building a fire and constructing shelter.
Campsites (from $12 nightly) and cabins are both available, bring the kids for a woodsy weekend on the park’s 2800 acres. “Survivor Series,” Saturdays 11 AM. Park open most days, call for details. 
LAGNIAPPE – Channel your inner revolutionary or just come to eat cake at the Bastille Day Block Party! The street festival commemorates French Independence Day with French-themed food and activities, including child-friendly entertainment. Live music from the Gypsy Jazz Trio, Cynthia Scott and Some Like It Hot will score the event, held on the 3100 block of Ponce de Leon St. Before and after the fest, get continental by dropping into one of the Bayou St. John neighborhood’s European-influenced restaurants: Lola’s (Spanish), Nonna Mia (Italian), or Cafe Degas (French) 5 PM to 9 PM.
Sloane Berrent is a cause-based marketing and social branding consultant, nonprofiteer and budding social entrepreneur. She uses social media, product evangelizing, fundraising and community development services to help for-profit and nonprofit companies with a focus on social action campaigns. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she has lived in Burlington VT, Boston MA, Rome Italy, and Los Angeles, CA. She spent 2009 as a digital nomad, traveling the world experiencing life and volunteering including stints in South America, New Orleans and three months in the Philippines as a Kiva Fellow.
She co-created “Cause It’s My Birthday” a campaign to raise money (over $19k to date) and awareness for malaria prevention in Ghana. Sloane moved to New Orleans as her new home at the end of 2009 and co-launched NOLAlicious, a weekly newsletter of events in New Orleans. She was recently named the citizen journalist to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland for the MySpace and The Wall Street Journal communities. Her consulting practice, Answer With Action, focuses on strategic integrated marketing consulting. She speaks frequently on building community and blogs at The Causemopolitan.
