Redheads gather to light up unique Dutch festival

TILBURG, The Netherlands (Reuters) - Thousands of people gathered in the Netherlands this weekend to celebrate their red hair at the annual Redhead Days Festival in the southern town of Tilburg.

Architecture student Ellen Linderstad told Reuters she spent more than 24 hours on trains and buses from Stockholm to get to the event as she doesn't meet many other redheads in Sweden.

"It's really special to be in a place where all people have red hair, everywhere you look," the 21-year-old said.

Redheads make up 1% to 2% of the world’s population and 2% to 6% of people with Northern or Northwestern European ancestry.

According to the organisers, more than 10,000 people from over half a dozen countries attended the three-day festival, signing up for photo shoots, speed-meeting events and a variety of workshops.

The event usually closes with a group picture, which in 2013 set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people with natural red hair when 1,672 redheads were in the photo.

(Reporting by Bart Biesemans; Writing by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Hugh Lawson)