Latest news Red Head Days festival attracts thousands in the Netherlands
Thousands of red-haired people from all over the world came to the Red Head Days festival in Tilburg, the Netherlands, at the weekend. Visitors to the Redhead Days came from over 80 countries, according to the organizers of the festival, which is now in its 20th year. The program in a park in the Dutch city includes music performances, parties, redhead speed dating, games and creative activities. Festival visitors can spend the night on a campsite.
30.08.2025, 18:32
SDA
Rare hair color connects
The hair color connects the visitors, initiator and festival director Bart Rouwenhorst told the newspaper "Algemeen Dagblad". "You look alike, so you feel like a kind of family. But there's more that connects you, for example childhood experiences, because with red hair you simply stand out. Especially if you live in Mexico, for example, you hardly ever meet other people with red hair."
Only two percent of all people worldwide have red hair, the newspaper reported. Most of them live in northern European countries. The highest proportion, around ten percent of the population, is found in Scotland and Ireland. Of the more than 150 genes that determine hair color, there is only one gene that gives a person red hair, molecular biologist Manfred Kayser told the newspaper. The hair color is correspondingly rare.
"Many redheads make friends here and come back every year," said festival director Rouwenhorst. "And relationships are also formed, from which red-haired children are then born again."
