On the Sunday after the vernal equinox metro Detroiters welcome spring with its annual Marche du Nain Rouge parade. A tradition since 2010, the event is something of a combination of Halloween and Carnival and is based on the Nain Rouge (“Red Dwarf”) of folklore said to have cursed the city. While early versions of the parade saw people don costumes and drive the Nain Rouge out of the city, over the years some historians have pointed out that according to the first recorded version of the tale from 1883, the imp should be respected, not reviled. This year festival organizers cast the Nain Rouge in a somewhat different light, and in a speech given at the foot of the Masonic Temple, Detroit’s most misunderstood mythical creature tried to turn over a new leaf. He said those were the old days and insisted that Detroit is doing fine now — it’s the rest of the world that is now cursed. “I’m going to call a truce this year,” he said. “Detroit, enjoy your hot streak.”
