Marche Du Nain Rouge Returns To Detroit
DETROIT (WWJ) - The Marche du Nain Rouge returns to the city on Sunday, March 24 from 1 to 7 p.m. -- bringing more than 3,000 revelers to Detroit's Cass Corridor.
The fourth annual festival and parade celebrates Detroit's folkloric tradition of banishing the "Nain Rouge," or the red dwarf, who has haunted Detroit for more than 300 years.
The official Marche du Nain Rouge festivities begin at Traffic Jam & Snug's parking lot at 1 p.m. The community is invited to gather for the opening ceremony, where amidst chants and taunts, the Nain Rouge is expected to appear.
The Marche procession will lead revelers through North Cass Corridor and down Cass Avenue. The year's Marche will be even stronger in its efforts to rid Detroit of the Nain Rouge. The ghosts of Detroit's past, followed by the Detroit Party Marching Band, will lead the procession of the expected 3,000 plus marchers and community groups with neighborhood-inspired and constructed chariots and theatrics galore.
The Marche will conclude on Temple Street, where revelers will banish the Nain Rouge and rid Detroit of its woes.
This year's festival will send revelers throughout the Cass Corridor. Bars, restaurants and retailers along the way will post party events for all marchers to enjoy, including Haute to Death at the Temple Bar; Nothing Elegant at the Old Miami, and a grand celebration in the Masonic Temple's Fountain Ballroom.
Those traveling from afar and heading to Detroit to banish the Rouge, can ride the Detroit Bus Company for $15. The bus will have pick-up location at Imperial in Ferndale and Gusoline Alley in Royal Oak.
For more details on Marche du Nain Rouge festivities, visit www.marchedunainrouge.com.
History of The Marche du Nain Rouge
The Marche du Nain Rouge is rooted in Detroit's early history, when Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Detroit and was confronted by the Nain Rouge. He purportedly hit the Nain Rouge with his cane and became cursed for life. Since then, the Nain Rouge has been spotted throughout Detroit's history, usual at the city's most notorious occurrences.
The event was reignited in 2010 when 400 Detroiters gathered to continue a lost tradition -- to march the Nain Rouge out of Detroit on the Spring Equinox. The carnival-esque festival calls for all Detroiters to don costumes that mask themselves in front of the Nain Rouge and represent the effigy they want to shed.
