INGRID ANDERSON, CREATOR OF HUMAN HORSE RACES, NEW ORLEANS: INTERVIEW

interview, Ingrid Anderson, producer, creator, Human Horse Races, New Orleans

SADDLING UP: a thanksgiving alternative

Ingrid Anderson and New Orleans' Human Horse Races
Interview by Paul Oswell
The Human Horse Races began in 2019 as an alternative to Thanksgiving Day celebrations at the city's race track. Local artist Ingrid Anderson is the creator of the event, which now attracts thousands of people. You can read about the origins of the Human Horse Races here.

Hi Ingrid, thanks for talking to us! For anyone that doesn’t know about it, tell us about the origins of Human Horse Races.
Hi! So, all my life I was one of the artists that went to the fairgrounds for Thanksgiving. In 2014 as a joke, I decided to wear a horse head to the Fairgrounds. I think it was my way of asking, “What if the horses wanted to have a good time too?” That's when the seed got planted. I wasn't able to bring Human Horse Races into reality until 2019. The first year I was expecting maybe 50 to 75 people, but around 300 people showed up! We had no budget. We were operating on blind faith. This year, now in its 6th year, we’re expecting over 3,000 people.

Wow, that’s an incredible growth rate, congratulations! How’s preparation going for this year's event?
You know, pretty smoothly. I guess because we've been doing it for so long, it's becoming easier for me to delegate. That’s crucial, because we are expanding every year. But everything's lining up really well. I’m trying not to stress about time and put in the self-care where I need it!

I spoke to you before the 2023 event, I guess, and you were expecting about a thousand people. Is Easton Park still big enough for you?
You know, there's a high turnover rate. We have the families with their kids first thing in the morning, and then we get a second wave. A lot of that comes from people who still like to go to the racetrack, so they do that first and then they come to our event. I noticed last year that people were arriving even up until three o'clock, which is amazing. Anyway, the park was not full by any means.

I know you said your dream would be to do it in Tad Gormley Stadium.
I think Easton Park is big enough to do it for a few more years. I'd love to try to get into Pan Am Stadium. I feel like that's the perfect size stadium for us for our next growth phase. I think it's more doable in the near future. We'll just kind of see how that goes.

Tell us what kind of vendors and entertainment there is this year.
For food vendors, we have Inaayat, who do an Indian and French mix, and then Tangerine Kitchen, who do vegan food. We do have a handful of art vendors, locally made honey, paintings, and clothing, it's a very eclectic mix! The Recycle Challenge will have a booth again, supplying kids with like arts and crafts stuff. So, yeah, it's a very eclectic mix. The Dapper Dandies are going to be playing on a new stage, away from the main track. House of Blues is sponsoring the music stage.

How many races this year?
It'll be eight adult races on our main track and then three family races. We have raffle baskets, so that people can bet on the races in a safe way. Then of course we have a separate kids track. They race with hobby horses and just kind of play and do whatever they want.

What's been your main compliment from people over the years you've been doing it? What do people most love?
That's a really great question. I have heard from many people that they feel like they found their tribe, a place that’s just overwhelmingly accepting, which is really nice to hear. A lot of people come to find me and they tell me that they stumbled upon this event some years ago and now they come here every year. Some folk are from Michigan and Florida, and Minnesota. That's incredible. Having these people experience that and associate this day with pure joy and freedom of expression…I think that's just totally wonderful.

The 6th Annual Human Horse Races will take place on Nov 27th, 2025 from 11am – 3 P.M at Easton Park, 3141 Toulouse St. in Mid City. Get your Tickets Here

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