The event in Morley, Leeds, on Saturday is expected to attract hundreds
of people of a carrot-top persuasion.

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The highlight of the day will be a mass gathering of people with ginger hair on the Town Hall steps, during which a photo will record the event for posterity.

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Organisers have also unveiled a packed programme of activities for the rest of the day.

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Celebrations start at 10am when guests will be asked to meet up at Cucina bar and restaurant which will be staging live music.

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At 10.30am Mayor of Morley, Coun Shirley Varley, will give an official welcome and at 11am, there will be a Ginger Hoppity Horse Derby along Queen Street.

Teams will be made up of ginger-haired people from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and there will be prizes for the winning "nation".

At 12noon near the new Ernie Wise statue, there will be a mass performance of the Parrock Nook Band. Guests are asked to bring a home-made instrument of any description and together they will belt out tunes including Edelweiss, The Entertainer and Rocking All Over the World.

At 1pm, in the Mayor's Parlour, Schools Secretary Ed Balls will give out prizes in a children's Ginger Ninja art competition. The first prize is a £100 gift voucher for the White Rose Centre.

At 1.30pm, in the council chamber, there will be a talk by Glyn Watkins, the author of The Wayne Jacobs Little Red Head Book – a book about red-headed footballers and the mysteries of red hair.

Festivities will then break for lunch – in the form of a Big Red Picnic in the Park in Scatcherd Park.

At 3pm, will be The Big Red Photo, a mass photograph of hundreds, possibly thousands, of redheads on the steps of Morley Town Hall.
And at 4pm, the day will end with the Big Red Chillout event at Morley's Stush Bar & Club.

All activities are free.

The idea is the brainchild of proud redhead Richard Simpson, from Morley, who was inspired by a similar event held in The Netherlands.

Richard said: "This will be the first ever UK national celebration of all things redhead or gingerish or auburn or strawberry-blonde and carrot-top...

"It's a free event, not-for-profit, and a fun day to make a light-hearted celebration of all things gingerish. There is no political angle, no bureaucrats and nobody taking offence at being called ginger."

He said the event – which he hoped would become annual – would also raise funds for the Lord Mayor of Leeds's 2010 Appeal, which is supporting the Samaritans, Riding for the Disabled and Create.