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International Kiss a Ginger Day (January 12)

Check out the weird holiday International Kiss a Ginger Day on Jan 12. Learn its history & get ideas on how to celebrate kissing readheads!

One weird holiday on January 12 is International Kiss a Ginger Day. Check out the other weird January holidays!

Disclaimer: do NOT kiss anyone without their permission.

History of International Kiss a Ginger Day

This weird holiday began in 2009, when Derek Forgie created a Facebook event to be a rebuttal to the awful “Kick a Ginger Day” in November that caused worldwide assault of redheads all over the world.

Red hair is a result of the Viking invasions, although it is mostly associated with Ireland and Irish heritage.

It’s one of the rarest genetics in the world, making up no more than 1-2% of the population. Both parents must have the redhead gene, and even then, there’s only a 1-in-4 change that they will have a redheaded child.

Most redheads actually have brown eyes, but some have green or hazel. The rarest combination is a blue-eyed ginger redhead. Many redheads also happen to be left-handed as well.

In older times, red hair had a pretty bad reputation. Gingers were often accused of being witches and having the ability to overpower people. Nowadays, it is jokingly associated with having a fiery temper and personality.

In the Netherlands, Redhead Day is celebrated with a Dutch summer festival (which began in 2005). There are six different shades of red that are considered the most common.

Interestingly enough, studies have been done to show that redheads require 20% more anesthesia for medical procedures than people with other hair colors. 1 in 10 people in Ireand have red hair, and 13% of redheads live in Scotland.

Ideas for International Kiss a Ginger Day

Please, please don’t go out and kiss the first redhead you see (or any redhead, for that matter) without their permission. It’s a sure way to spend this holiday getting slapped or even put in jail.

Instead, here are some better ways to get red ginger in your life today.

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