Every year on the first weekend of September, an extraordinary gathering of thousands of unusual people occurs in the picturesque, southern Dutch town of Breda. They get together for Redhead Days, a festival that unites natural redheads from around the world, without distinctions of shades or styles.

“Neither blonde nor brown, the redheaded are a people apart," author Xavier Fauche claims in his book Roux et Rousses: Un Eclat Très Particulier,” published in France. "They are a minority who define themselves from the gaze that others bear on them because they do not constitute an ethnic group and have neither a community of language nor a common cultural heritage.”

Admired, bullied, surrounded by mystery and stereotypes, redheads have glowed through history, religion, art, and mythology generally associated with extremes. Mars, the god of war, and Biblical figures like King David, Judith, Cain, Judas, and even the Virgin Mary have been represented as redheads.

The festival - which with 6,000 participants last year holds the record for the most natural redheads gathered in one place - has been held since 2005. Redhead Days attracts natural redheads from more than 80 countries including Great Britain, the United States, Australia, and Germany.