Life has been good to the redhead population (less than 2% of the world) in recent years.
First there was the Redhead Convention in Crosshaven, Co. Cork, then a hugely popular photography exhibition that proved ginger men can be sexy too, and now we have a magazine devoted to redheads, a beauty hub just for gingers, dating sites to help people find their next flame haired fling, and even the first-ever National Love Your Red Hair Day.
What’s next?
Parade floats just for redheads.
This year, for St. Patrick’s Day, both Cork, in Ireland, and Toronto, in Canada, will be including floats dedicated to gingers in their cities’ parades.
In Cork, the float will coincide with the launch of a new redhead-centric photography exhibition at Cork Airport.
For the last five years, Jörg Köster, a German photographer, has been amassing a portfolio of thousands of redhead portraits from all around the world – a project that first began at the Irish Redhead Convention.
The president of the Irish Redhead Convention, Joleen Cronin, told the Irish Examiner that the project “captures the essence of this concept so beautifully and viewers will be enthralled by the details in the differences and the personalities that shine through in each portrait. After all, every ginger tells a story.”
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the inaugural redhead float seems to be more of a novelty/celebratory idea.
“The 2016 St Patrick’s Day Parade will be celebrating Gingers in style,” the “Ginger Jig” section of the event website explains. “They will be joining in the parade with a marching with all Gingers. This is the first year that they will be taking part in the Toronto St Patrick’s Parade. Gingers are a rare breed and while they have their own festive days (Kiss a Ginger Day is on Jan 12th), St Patrick’s TO are delighted that they wish to celebrate the St Patrick’s Festival in our parade!”
It may also be something of a diversionary tactic, as the redheads will be with St. Patrick on the parade’s grand finale float, which has apparently seen better days.
“It’s an old, dilapidated float, we’re trying to hide it,” Shaun Ruddy, the perfectly named organizer of the Ginger Jig joked to the Toronto Sun.
They are calling for all redheads and even wannabe redheads in the Toronto area to join in the fun.
While the idea of corralling a bunch of gingers together to be paraded through the streets sounds like it could be either an empowering or rather objectifying experience, the floats will offer the chance for all redheads to be Irish for a day - just like everyone usually assumes they are.
Would you join one of the St. Patrick’s Day redhead floats? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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