Marche Du Nain Rouge - Detroit

The Marche du Nain Rouge celebrates all that is good in Detroit and our liberation from the Nain — the city’s legendary harbinger of doom. It’s a new beginning in the city that will not give up. (Credit: http://marchedunainrouge.com/) Party-goers celebrate and join in a parade to keep the evil Nain out of the beloved city. These images include a cast of characters I met while celebrating. From the Marche du Nain Rouge web site: In 1701, legendary founder of Detroit Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac met a fortune-teller, who warned him to beware of the Nain Rouge, a red dwarf that had appeared to Cadillac in a dream. She warned him that the the little red imp is the embodiment of his ambition, anger, pride, envy — everything that held him back. The Nain Rouge, she told him, is the harbinger of doom. If Cadillac chose to settle near the straits between Michigan and Ontario, the fortuneteller said, it might pay off one day, but it would be a long uphill slog fraught with setbacks. Despite this sound counsel, when Cadillac first saw the fiend in person, the Nain taunted him mercilessly and Cadillac chased the evil creature away with a stick. Courage, even in the face of common sense, and willingness to endure whatever comes, are henceforth defining characteristics of denizens of the city that Cadillac went on to establish: Detroit. Unfortunately, the fortune turned out to be true and Cadillac died penniless after he left Detroit for France. The city he founded, however, fared better, endured and prospered (mostly), against the fiendish efforts of the Nain Rouge. For 300 years, Detroiters memorialized Cadillac’s actions and willingness to persevere and hope for better things, combined with the determination to rise from the ashes. At Detroit’s worst moments, the Nain has been there, cackling or taunting the city’s residents. And so, every year, Detroiters celebrate liberation from the Nain, a new beginning, and whatever is good and working in the city in a spring festival for the good and betterment of the city of Detroit. Unfortunately, on such occasions, the Nain Rouge manifests, revealing itself to revelers, taunting them by highlighting all of its evil accomplishments and plans to bring the city down. (Just in case, revelers are advised to come in disguise, so the Nain can’t exact revenge.) On these occasions, a struggle ensues – the Nain Rouge taunts revelers and challenges them to join him in Cass Park, where he’ll reveal his ultimate plan for the city’s demise. The epic confrontation culminates in a decisive moment – the future of the city hinges on the whether the gathered Detroiters can overwhelm the Nain Rouge’s dastardly plans with their hope for better things, or whether the Nain manages to hold the city back once again. Go to http://marchedunainrouge.com/marche/ to learn more.