Red is the only colour in town for festival

A gingerbread man party, freckle counting, and an Olympics-themed carrot-tossing competition were the big crowd-pullers over the weekend at Ireland’s annual Red Head convention.

Some 360 enthusiastic ginger-tops from all over the world gathered in Crosshaven, Co Cork, on Saturday, determined to paint the picturesque town red and raise much needed funds for cancer research.

Revellers had dozens of light-hearted, ginger-themed events to choose from, such as orange lawn-bowling, a red beard competition, a freckle-counting contest, and even fire eating.