TROY – A sea of redheads were enjoying a night out in the Collar City at the Night of the Living Red, Part X event held Wednesday, Oct. 4, at Ryan’s Wake which brought families, friends and even non-redheads together for camaraderie, good times and live music from singer Sofia Corts.
The community event was put on by the League of the Extraordinary Redheads headmaster Duncan Crary. Crary wanted to put on an event where all redheaded individuals could come together in solidarity and have a really good time.
“So I wanted to make an event that was based on ‘call in culture,’” Crary said. “All right, we are different, we are “the other”, but we’re not going to get offended by your treatment of us. … Instead, we’re going to have fun with this and have a really good time.”
Crary has organized and run the social gatherings for 11 years. One year, the event didn’t occur due to COVID.
Guests who attended the gathering had a good time and felt safe amongst their peers. The young children of redheaded and non-redheaded families also felt great, Crary said.
The Night of the Living Red, Part X included many activities for attendees to immerse themselves in. All participants gathered outside Ryan’s Wake for a group picture taken by Montclair, N.J., photographer Neil Grabowsky, and listened to Corts perform two original songs, “Spring Cleaning” and “Temporarily,” and a cover of Rhianna’s “Love On The Brain.
Corts covered “Spring Cleaning” on the acoustic guitar. Pianist Peter Islein accompanied Corts on piano in her vocal renditions of “Temporarily” and “Love on the Brain’’ in front of an impressed audience.
Even non-redheads got involved in the fun by trying on red wigs and posing for selfies at the photo booth for amusement.
According to Crary, redheads far and wide have attended his events. Guests have traveled to Troy from Buffalo, Saranac Lake, New York City, Boston and Providence, R.I., in previous years. The event has also attracted international visitors from the Netherlands and Ireland.
Karina Spivak from Brooklyn traveled up from New York City to the Capital Region for the gathering. She said she is always looking for unique events to attend in New York City and didn’t want to limit herself to just her home base.
Spivak said she loved her time spent in Troy.
“I love it! Duncan Crary took me around to meet everyone in Troy. Troy’s very cute and very nice,” Spivak said.
A waiter at Ryan’s Wake told Spivak to also check out other Troy hangouts where young people hang out, and she took that advice to check things out.
“There are people that I was talking to that did not know that this event was happening.in Troy,” Spivak said. “There are parents that don’t have red hair that are showing up with their little ginger babies and their little ginger kids.”