(9 Sep 2014) Gingers from 80 countries have taken over a town in the Netherlands.
More than 2,000 people flocked to the Redhead Days festival in Breda
The annual festival is the largest gathering of redheads in the world and has been running since 2005.
A sea of red, celebrating all things ginger.
Here in Breda (68 miles south of Amsterdam), thousands of red-haired people are gathering for a festival like no other.
Since 2005, the Redhead Days festival has been uniting those with distinctly-coloured hair for a weekend of fun, bonding and socialising.
Since its launch nine years ago, the festival has increased in size, offering red-haired visitors a host of events, parties, photo shoots, exhibitions and concerts to attend.
Throughout the world, redheads are a declining breed.
There are no exact figures in terms of the global population, but it’s thought Scotland has the highest percentage of natural red haired people with around 13 percent. Ireland is a close second with 10 percent of the population having red hair.
In the United States, just 2 percent of the population has natural red hair.
For many here, it’s a welcome chance to blend in and bond with fellow red heads.
“Normally, there’s no possible way for me to get lost in a crowd, but here it is possible,” says Tom Snyder, a 33-year-old visitor from the US.
“For most people I think that’s hard to explain because they can always get lost in a crowd. I’ve never had that before now actually, and so it’s kind of a special, feeling it’s very unique.”
Here at the Laboratory for Clinical and Human Genetics in Amsterdam, Dr. Erik Sistermans says in terms of genetics red-haired people are a dying breed.
That’s because people are now migrating and living in different parts of the world.
Less than two percent of the world’s population is thought to have red hair, but about 4 percent of humans carry a copy of the gene which makes red hair.
“That’s true indeed. That has to do with migration of people from countries populated with smaller amounts of redheads to countries with relatively larger amounts of a red haired population,” he explains.
“In order to get a child with red hair you need a father and mother who are both carrying the red hair gene. However, in an entire population not everyone carries the red hair gene. There are people with different hair colours like blonde or brown. If you mix the red gene and brown gene, there will be no red hair, if you mix brown and brown there will be no red, obviously. Only red gene and red gene carrier will produce a redhead. If more people without the red head gene join the population, the chance of redheads will decrease.”
Louisa Morgan and her daughter are visiting from the UK, with husband and father David Morgan.
Louisa says they’ve brought their five-year-old daughter here so she can enjoy herself and see that having red hair isn’t anything out of the ordinary.
“I was originally a bit disappointed, I didn’t really want her to have red hair,” she says.
“But I don’t know kind of a lot of people know here by it, and same with me. So I guess I should appreciate it.”
Another activity turning redheads at the festival is this speed-dating tent.
It’s open to all visitors – not just red haired people – however most attendees are sporting red-coloured locks.
Every 10 minutes participants are required to change seats and get to know the person sitting opposite them.
“I have really enjoyed the speed date and it was very exciting to meet other people who had the same experiences as I had (of being red haired),” says Astrid Roth, a 23-year-old student from Germany.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/01df3e45f9460fc4645fcc0961ae9625
source
