The city of Tilburg in the Netherlands hosts thousands of redheads from around the world at the annual Redhead Days festival. This unique and dynamic event is marking its 20th anniversary! It celebrates the beauty of being one of the few with red hair and connects the people who possess this beautiful rarity. The festival kicked off more than two decades ago. It has since morphed into a worldwide rendezvous, attracting such dynamic participants from nearly 80 countries around the globe.
The festival was founded by Dutch artist Bart Rouwenhorst. It started with a straightforward request for 15 auburn-haired models for an art installation, which he posted as an ad in a regional paper. Afterwards, it grew into something much bigger — a can’t-miss annual event. Now, it’s filled with fun activities and workshops for redheads, plus a big group photo to cap off the day.
We’re gearing up for an epic 2025 edition so stay tuned! Look forward to live music and a rotating line-up of food trucks to please even the pickiest connoisseur. Each of the workshops will drill down on critical topics. They’ll be addressing makeup techniques specifically for redheads and prevention of skin cancer, directly tackling needs expressed in the community.
Though primarily designed for adults, the festival is entirely free and open to all participants! Do catch the Sunday group photo—it’s turned into one of the best parts of the event. In 2013, this group photo helped set a Guinness World Record for the “largest gathering of people with natural red hair,” with 1,672 participants posing together.
Organizers are expecting even more this year, with many veterans like Elounda Bakker, who has been coming to the festival for 15 years. Reflecting on her experience, Bakker stated,
“I came out of curiosity mostly, just to see what it would be like not to stand out in the crowd.”
The celebration provides redheads with a unique community to belong to. Attendees describe it as a place where they finally belong and feel understood. Long red hair gave participant Daniel Hank a distinctive look, and he knew it, saying,
“I think it’s really easy to recognize me because there are not that many people with a red beard; there are not many guys with long red hair.”
Rouwenhorst himself was free to highlight the warm, familial vibe that permeates this event, saying,
“The festival is really amazing because all the people, they resemble each other and they feel like it’s a family.”
