Red Dress Run New Orleans 2026 | Date, Route & History
One always gets away
The Red Dress Run
Thousands of people. One color. Every kind of body in every kind of red dress, moving through the French Quarter for charity.
Saturday, August 8, 2026 · Crescent ParkWhat It Actually Is
Every year on the second Saturday of August, a few thousand people put on red dresses — everyone, regardless of gender, that's the whole point — and “run” a loose loop through the French Quarter and Marigny. The quotation marks are load-bearing. Nobody times anything. Plenty of participants never break a walk.
It's organized by the New Orleans Hash House Harriers, a group that cheerfully describes itself as “a drinking club with a running problem” — and underneath the spectacle it's a genuine charity event. Registration money goes to local nonprofits, and over the years the New Orleans run has moved serious money: roughly $2 million to area charities in its first decade or so, with recent single years reported around $150,000. Past beneficiaries have included Bridge House / Grace House, the Hospice Foundation of the South, and UNITY of Greater New Orleans.
How the Day Runs
A note on the heat: this is New Orleans in August. It is not a costume-friendly climate, which is somehow part of the charm. Hydrate like it's your job.
The Lady in Red
The origin story, as hashers tell it: in 1987, a woman named Donna Rhinehart showed up to a Southern California hash run in a red dress and was invited to wait in the truck while everyone else ran. She did not wait in the truck. She ran the whole thing in the dress — and the next year the San Diego hash flew her back for the first official Red Dress Run in her honor. She's been “The Lady in Red” ever since, and she's the one who suggested the runs raise money for charity.
Hash chapters all over the world run their own versions now, but New Orleans — a city that never met a costume it didn't like — has been at it since the mid-1990s and grew it into one of the biggest anywhere. Of course it did.
Watching, Joining, Etiquette
If you want to run: register. That's what makes it a charity event instead of just a bar crawl in chiffon, and it's what gets you into the party at the park. Thrift stores across the city get picked clean of red dresses in the weeks before — shop early.
If you just want to watch: the Quarter's sidewalks are free, and honestly the people-watching is among the best New Orleans offers all year. Bring a camera and buy a lemonade from somebody.
Either way: it's a big, loud, crowded, very warm day. Treat the neighborhood kindly — people live along the whole route.
Make a Day of It
The run lands in the same stretch of summer as White Linen Night, the Warehouse District's all-white art walk, usually the weekend before. Two Saturdays, two dress codes, one very sweaty and stylish city.
Start the Morning in Mid-City
We're Witches Brew Coffee Co. at 2940 Canal Street — open 8 AM daily, with a covered patio and parking in the back. Fuel up with a cold nitro matcha or an iced tea, then ride the Canal streetcar toward the river and walk into the madness. The red dress you'll have to source yourself.