Fiesta Brava Weekend entertains huge crowds in Acuna

April 1, 2007
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

Thousands of Del Rioans, Acuñenses, tourists and aficionados of taurine entertainment crowded Plaza Benjamin Canales, the municipal park in front of Ciudad Acuña City Hall Saturday (March 30). The atmosphere of celebration and anticipation was precisely what Fiesta Brava Weekend impresarios had hoped for.

A blazing sun, tempered by cool breezes and spots of shade, were a sharp contrast to the stormy weather plaguing the region most of last week, to the relief of organizers, participants and the throngs milling through and along the tourist district of Hidalgo Street, Madero Street and blocks of cross streets. Not unlike last year, the inaugural event for Running Las Vacas, the Saturday centerpiece of Fiesta Brava, 2007 edition, got off to a slow start – about 4 p.m. – as crowds waited patiently under a cloudless sky.

A welcome by Presidente Municipal Evaristo Lenin Perez, Acuña’s mayor, signaled the start of the day’s festivities. A parade of dignitaries and beauty queens, transported through the narrow alley around the plaza by convertibles and trucks from Ram Country Autoplex, was followed by a brief entourage of escaramuzas, young women – usually the daughters of charros – riding traditional side-saddle form in bright blue costumes.

Charros in full ceremonial regalia were followed by a spotty – often halting – introduction to 16 donkeys and riders about to compete in the event’s first donkey race around the plaza.

A few of the little mounts surprised their riders with eagerness and a brisk pace, but most needed convincing and motivation to complete the parade circuit and the return route during the race in heats of three animals each. According to event organizer Roberto Garza Crosby, the overall winner was a donkey sponsored by Amistad Industrial Development.

The afternoon’s climax treated the crowds lining the alley around Benjamin Canales Plaza to several releases of spirited heifers and steers, each heat greeted by about 20 adventurous runners who registered in advance for the privilege of running with the bovines. Hardly as foolhardy as the running of bulls in Pamplona, Spain, the runners were nonetheless in high spirits, revealing more than a tinge of adrenalin-fed nervousness.

Each runner sported a Running Las Vacas t-shirt and a red waist sash, and bluejeans and running shoes rounded out the uniform of the day. More than 100 runners in all scattered down the alley as gates were opened to release 10 or 15 (in each of several heats) young cattle raised from Spanish fighting bull blood stock near Monterrey, Mexico. Only occasionally did an animal fall or lose balance in the melee, requiring assistance to return to handlers, and those were uncharacteristically small animals that probably should have been replaced with healthier stock before the event.

A few hours after the opening ceremonies, when the Running of Las Vacas drew to a close with completion of the last run, event organizer and English language announcer Jorge Ramon, owner of La Macarena Restaurant, urged the crowd to return for the final weekend event.

The charlotada of clown acts, equestrian prowess, amateur bloodless bullfighting and many other performances begins at 4 p.m. (U.S. Daylight Savings Time) at Lienzo El Campanario. The shaded-arena is easily spotted set back slightly from Mexico Highway 29, about 3.5 miles south of the center of Ciudad Acuña.

More pictures: 

Jack Sorrell, 6, grandson of Del Rio bullriding impresario Bobby Paul, rides in Saturday’s parade before the Running Las Vacas event. Jack is led carefully on a small burro by a docent of Monterrey’s Casino Dorado. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)	Del Rioan Anthony Kusenberger demonstrates donkey-riding skills, clearly acquired by hours of video-taped practice, representing Pico Aviation in his fruitless quest for supremacy in the donkey race Saturday. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)
A runner jumps onto an alley fence, looking into the face of his pursuer in the Running Las Vacas event Saturday. More than a hundred runners registered and participated in the event this year, and organizers anticipate bigger events and better participation in the 2008 edition of Fiesta Brava Weekend. (LIVE! Photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)	Vendors of food, balloons, toys and souvenirs round out the color and atmosphere of the Fiesta Brava Weekend in Ciudad Acuña Saturday. Food and beverage purveyors will also energize and lubricate the crowd at the Lienzo El Campanario charlotada Sunday afternoon. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)