Redhead Appreciation Day
/“You’d find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair.”
Dublin Redhead Festival - Photo credit: David Attenborough Fans FB Post
They’re called gingers, carrot tops, big reds, rusties, and coppertops, among other things. Redheads … the 2% of people on the planet born with red hair. There are several days throughout the year that celebrate them. There’s World Redhead Day (May 26), Love your Red Hair Day (November 5), and Roodharigendag, the world’s largest annual 3-day redhead get-together in Tilburg, Netherlands held the last full weekend of August. Dublin, Ireland, also celebrates a huge Redhead Festival.
A ginger checking out the ginger in Trinidad (2016)
A lesser-known ginger fete, but convenient for my blog post schedule, is Redhead Appreciation Day, celebrated on September 23rd. Since one of my favorite people in the world is a redhead, my little sister Lin, I thought I’d let her and you know how much I appreciate her by giving her a shout-out. Hey, Lin!
All the various redhead celebrations salute the rarity of those with such distinctive hair color... and sometimes a fiery temper to match. We recently gave my brother-in-law a t-shirt that says it all.
Some facts about redheads:
Red hair is an inherited, but recessive trait. You have to inherit the gene from both parents. Our parents both had brown hair.
Scotland and Ireland have the highest concentration of redheads. About 23% of their total population has red hair.
Redheads are more attractive to bees.
There are an estimated 150-160 million natural redheads in the world, about 2% of the population. And my sister is one of them!
Red hair doesn't usually turn gray, but rather fades to blonde or white.
Redheads are also associated with witchcraft. They were drowned, stoned, or burned at the stake during the Spanish Inquisition and during the Salem witch trials. In Greek mythology, redheads turned into vampires when they died.
Famous redheads include:
Helen of Troy, Alexander the Great, Erik the Red, Vincent van Gogh, Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I, Mark Twain, Lil Orphan Annie, Anne of Green Gables, Lucille Ball, Reba McEntire, Carrot Top, and, of course, my most favorite redhead of all, Lin!
Lin and her granddaughter, Saoirse… both redheads.