The World's Largest Redhead Festival Takes Over This Dutch City

Highlights at a Glance: Redhead Days Tilburg

• Held annually in Tilburg, the Netherlands, with the 2026 edition running August 28 to 30.

• Free to attend, with only select parties and activities requiring a paid ticket.

• Widely regarded as the world's largest redhead festival, drawing thousands of natural redheads and admirers.

• The signature event is a Sunday group photo at 1:00 PM, reserved for natural redheads.

• Each year has an official theme color, with Burgundy chosen for 2026.

• Programming includes a kick-off party, pub crawl, fashion show, hair-braiding stations, workshops, and live entertainment.

• The festival dates back to 2005, five years before Ireland's Crosshaven convention began.

• Ireland's Irish Redhead Convention remains on hold, with no confirmed return date.

The World's Biggest Redhead Festival Started by Accident

Redhead Days wasn't dreamed up by a tourism board or festival company. It started in 2005 when Dutch artist Bart Rouwenhorst went looking for around 15 red-haired models for a series of paintings. He placed an advertisement asking redheads to take part and received responses from roughly 150 people instead.

Rather than turn almost everyone away, Rouwenhorst invited the group to gather together. What was supposed to be a one-off artistic project became an event of its own, returning the following year and gradually attracting redheads from far beyond the Netherlands. The festival moved between Dutch cities over the years before eventually settling in Tilburg, where it has grown into an international gathering of thousands.

So yes, the world's biggest ginger festival can essentially trace its existence back to one artist dramatically underestimating how many redheads would answer a newspaper ad.

What Happened to Ireland's Redhead Convention?

The Irish Redhead Convention arrived a few years later in 2010 and quickly became one of the best-known redhead gatherings in the world. Held in Crosshaven, a small harbor village in County Cork, the festival fully committed to the theme with carrot tossing, ginger speed dating, freckle competitions, and the crowning of a King and Queen of the Redheads, all while raising money for the Irish Cancer Society.

For several years, Crosshaven and the Dutch festival existed side by side, giving redheads the extremely niche luxury of having multiple international conventions to choose from. Eventually, however, organizers in Ireland cited difficulties securing enough funding and sponsorship to keep the event running. The Irish Redhead Convention remains on hold, with no confirmed return date.

Tilburg didn't exactly replace Crosshaven, since Redhead Days was already older and larger. But with Ireland's festival gone from the calendar, the Netherlands has become the obvious pilgrimage for travelers whose vacation-planning criteria include "number of gingers per square mile."

What Actually Happens at Redhead Days?

The festival runs Friday through Sunday and is built largely around free, drop-in activities. A Friday kick-off party gets the weekend started, while Saturday brings a pub crawl through Tilburg along with workshops, performances, and other activities scattered around the festival area.

One of the more unusual parts of the weekend is an upcycling project where participants create outfits using secondhand clothing and materials. Those designs then appear in a Sunday fashion show. Hair-braiding stations, live performances, and an open stage round out a program that feels much more like a city festival than three days of people simply standing around comparing hair colors.

Everything, however, builds toward Sunday afternoon and the event Redhead Days is best known for.

Thousands of Redheads, One Very Large Group Photo

The centerpiece of Redhead Days happens at 1:00 PM on Sunday, when thousands of natural redheads gather for the festival's signature group photo. It's the one major event reserved specifically for people with naturally red hair, creating the enormous sea of copper, auburn, strawberry blonde, and ginger heads that has become the defining image of the weekend.

Each year, organizers choose an official theme color for attendees to wear in the photo, giving every edition its own visual identity. For 2026, that color is Burgundy, joining a running archive of past shades that makes the annual photos feel almost like a timeline of the festival itself. After the main shot, attendees can also gather for optional country photos, grouping by nationality for a few minutes before the flags disappear again.

At this point, the Sunday photo has basically become Redhead Days' annual class picture, except the class is made up of several thousand people from around the world who happen to share a recessive genetic trait. And with Burgundy as this year's dress code, someone on the organizing committee clearly understood the assignment.

You Don't Actually Have to Be a Redhead

Despite the name, non-redheads are very much welcome. Friends, spouses, children, parents, photographers, and travelers who simply enjoy extremely specific festivals can attend nearly every part of Redhead Days. The main exception is the official natural-redhead group photo.

The festival also relies heavily on volunteers, with organizers recruiting hairstylists for the braiding stations, models for the fashion show, performers for the open stage, and people to help behind the scenes. Keeping the event accessible appears to be part of its identity, with general admission remaining free and only certain extras requiring paid tickets or festival tokens.

Planning a Redhead Days Weekend

Redhead Days 2026 runs August 28 through 30 in Tilburg, and the city makes an easy weekend trip even if you don't have a single red hair on your head. Tilburg sits in the southern Netherlands with good rail connections to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and other Dutch cities, so it's simple to build the festival into a longer Netherlands itinerary.

General admission is free, but some extras, including the kick-off party and pub crawl, require tickets and can sell out ahead of time. Camping is also available for travelers who want to stay for the full weekend. Because most of the festival unfolds in and around the city rather than behind the gates of a traditional festival complex, visitors can dip in and out, explore Tilburg between events, and return for the big Sunday group photo.

International travelers can easily fly into Amsterdam or another nearby airport and continue to Tilburg by train, which makes renting a car unnecessary for most visitors. The festival publishes its full program and site map closer to the event, so it's worth checking the schedule before deciding which day, or how many days, to attend.

There are festivals for music, food, flowers, beer, and apparently being born with a very specific amount of pheomelanin. Somehow, Redhead Days makes the last one sound like a perfectly reasonable excuse for a weekend in the Netherlands.

Tilburg doesn't try to turn red hair into some overly serious cultural movement, which is probably part of why the event works. You show up, wear Burgundy, catch a fashion show, wander around the city, and on Sunday thousands of redheads squeeze together for one extremely photogenic family portrait with several thousand distant genetic cousins.

Crosshaven's Irish Redhead Convention may eventually return, and we'd happily make room for two international capitals of Gingerdom. Until then, Tilburg gets the crown. Considering the festival itself is free, you really only need to budget for the trip, a hotel, and a responsible amount of sunscreen.

Frequently Asked Questions: Redhead Days Tilburg

Where is Redhead Days held?

Redhead Days takes place in Tilburg in the southern Netherlands.

When is Redhead Days 2026?

The 2026 festival runs from August 28 through August 30, 2026.

Is Redhead Days free?

Yes. General admission to the festival is free, although some parties, activities, and other extras require tickets or festival tokens.

Is Redhead Days really the world's largest redhead festival?

It is widely regarded as the largest festival dedicated to natural redheads and attracts thousands of attendees from around the world.

Do you have to be a redhead to attend?

No. Non-redheads are welcome at most festival events. The primary exception is the official Sunday group photo, which is reserved for natural redheads.

What happens during the Redhead Days group photo?

Thousands of natural redheads gather together for the festival's official photo at 1:00 PM on Sunday. It has become the signature tradition of the event.

How did Redhead Days start?

The festival began in 2005 after Dutch artist Bart Rouwenhorst advertised for around 15 red-haired models and received responses from roughly 150 people. The gathering eventually evolved into Redhead Days.

What happened to the Irish Redhead Convention?

The Irish Redhead Convention in Crosshaven, County Cork, has been on hold after organizers struggled with funding and sponsorship. There is currently no confirmed date for its return.

Did the Irish or Dutch redhead festival come first?

The Dutch event came first. Redhead Days began in 2005, while the Irish Redhead Convention in Crosshaven started in 2010.

What is the Redhead Days theme color for 2026?

The official 2026 theme color is Burgundy, which attendees are encouraged to wear for the group photo.