Redhead Day, Roodharigendag
Each September, in the Dutch city of Breda, a gathering of people with red hair takes place. At the end, they pose together for a picture which will then fly around the world media. An amazing opportunity to experience fifty shades of red!
It started unintentionally in 2005. Painter Bart Rouwenhorst from Asten was influenced by artists like Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Gustav Klimt, who created a number of dramatic portraits of Titian beauties. Inspired by his idols, he decided to paint fifteen new portraits of ginger-haired women, but he ran into a problem. He couldn´t find them. Natural red hair is a big rarity in the Netherlands, only two per cent of the population has it.
Rouwenhorst then placed an ad in a local newspaper, and surprisingly, 150 eager girls volunteered. The painter didn't want to turn them down; he chose fourteen and organise a group photo shoot in the green T-shirts and a lottery for the remaining ones, to decide who would be the last model. Eventually, this became the first Redhead Day.
The second event in 2007 in Breda was already organized in advance, the dress code was white - if everyone is in the same colour, the picture looks better. Eight hundred redheads came to the city and redheaded children were allowed off school for a week.
In 2008, nearly 2,000 redhead people in black t-shirts participated; various complementary activities were added and journalists from around the world came to see it. Some Dutch calendars marked the first Sunday of September as the official Redhead Day.
In 2010, all the nearby hotels were fully booked, around 4000 redheads from thirty countries showed.
In 2012, the world record for the number of redheads in one place was broken, with 1255 models posing together for ten minutes.
In 2013, the world record was broken again, the total number of 1,672 redheads in one place was added to the Guinness Book (I would like to know where the others wandered, as according to the organisation more than 5,000 redheads from 80 countries were present) and in 2014 the number rose to 1,714 (approximately 6 000 attended).
Breda is a small town in the south of the Netherland which does not offer much to tourists during the year. But nowadays three-day Roodharigendag is open to everyone; not only to natural red-haired people.
As soon as we got out of the car, it was clear that the redheads were gathering. Almost all the people in the streets were redheaded! Suddenly I was surprised to see how many different shades of red hair may have: strawberry, carrot, burgundy, orange, mahogany, fire, almost blond, copper, golden, cherry, pink...
There were stands at the disposal of precious guests, where they had been combed, styled and photographed for free. They could buy funny T-shirts, compare the nuance of their hair with a range of fifty official tones, and get a price reduction to food. Women, men, children, whole families, as well as their non-redheaded relatives or friends, came. From all over the world; from the most distant country Andrea Colson of Micronesia, with her ankle length hair: "Where I live, I'm the only one with this colour, all of my friends and acquaintances have dark skin and black curls. It's amazing to meet so many people who look like me! I think that our colour is a gift of God and I am glad that this festivity honours it.”
A huge group photo from the previous year was installed on the main square, and everybody took a picture in front of it. We (two blondes and a black-haired man) also didn't miss this opportunity ... (and later, with the help of Mr Photoshop, we ,,dyed” our hair red :).
The atmosphere was pleasant; the centre hosted a variety of musicians and street artists.
The Redhead Day included almost fifty activities, such as exhibitions, workshops, competitions for children, dating picnics for future Titian couples, ballooning, dermatological lectures about the protection of the extremely sensitive skin of red-haired people and many others. You could buy a special magazine and read the stories of red-haired people who attended the festival over the past years and learn some tips and tricks on what products to use to keep a beautiful ginger colour.
On Friday evening, a big party was held; on Saturday everyone was at leisure; the most important day was Sunday. At the specified time, a photo shoot took place, under the condition that everybody had a blue T-shirt and natural red hair. Nobody checked their authenticity and I admit that I had little doubts about some redheads; they seemed more like blondes...
The red-haired people got a sunflower, and then gathered on a meadow where the journalists were waiting for them in a forklift. It was fun; they asked them to raise the flower, then put down, wave it, stretch arms sideways, arm close to the body, turn themselves right, turn themselves left; for at least twenty minutes they let them exercise like at the elementary school gym; until they were finally satisfied. The picture which will fly around the world media was done.
3 Days
