Marche du Nain Rouge 2012

Marche du Nain Rouge The 2012 Marche du Nain Rouge happened today in Midtown.

The Marche du Nain Rouge is a 300-year-old tradition in Detroit centered around the idea that French settler and founder of Detroit, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, encountered a little red dwarf, or “Nain Rouge”, and struck him with his cane. The Nain cursed Cadillac and his colony. The Marche brings revelers out to chase out the Nain Rouge and undo the Curse.

While the legend is old, the tradition and parade are new. It was “re-started” in 2010, with 400 revelers turning out to chase the Nain Rouge. This year, more than 3000 showed up.
Marche du Nain Rouge 2012 Mustaches against le Nain
 Just after noon, people began gathering in the parking lot of Motor City Brewing. Some were dressed normally, while many wore costumes ranging from simple to incredibly elaborate. The most striking thing about the event was the representation of basically every single culture in Detroit, all together, all smiling, and all getting along wonderfully. The camaraderie was palpable.
Marche du Nain Rouge costumes
The Marche is similar to Mardi Gras in style, if not in scope. There’s a slightly frantic, slightly sensual, French flair to the whole event. There were men in drag, children and women with fake mustaches, and dogs with tutus. People threw beads, but I didn’t see any nudity (although there were people wearing underwear). There were many kids and families in the parade and in the crowd, but if one were terribly conservative, they would probably find something to be offended by.
Marche du Nain Rouge silver girls
Other than perhaps “mustaches” and the color red, there wasn’t a real theme to the costuming. There were a lot of Steampunk costumes, there were Renaissance-era costumes (and a few Plague Doctor masks), Carnivale-style masques and boas, lumberjacks and hipsters, punks and robots, furries, circus types, luchadores, and ballerinas.
Marche du Nain Rouge 2012 fluorescent people
Besides people in costume, there were also vehicles and other silliness. A man in a bike-drawn cardboard “bathtub”, a land canoe, and a steampunk, Mad Max-looking pedal-driven contraption were all in attendance.
Marche du Nain Rouge land canoe
The parade took the menagerie in a circle around the center of Midtown and then down Cass, ending at the Masonic Temple. Along the way, loudspeakers carried the voice of le Nain as he said dirty and mean things:

  • “I’M responsible for increasing parking enforcement hours until 10pm! Hahahahaha!”
  • “You think a parade is gonna stop me? Detroit is falling apart and no one cares!”
  • “Detroit is bankrupt! Hahahaha!

And so on. The Nain is a mean little thing, and every time he said something awful, there were thousands of “boo”s heard from the crowd.
Blame it on le Nain
At the end of the parade route, le Nain himself took to a pulpit wearing a snazzy suit, and addressed the crowd by telling everyone that negativity, hate, crime, littering, lack of participation, lack of voice, and lack of voting all made him stronger. Finally, a young woman stood up to him, grabbed the mic and said “I will stand up for Detroit!”
le Nain Rouge takes the stage
The crowd followed her lead. Other people—black, white, Asian, young, and old—all chanted the same thing: I will stand up for Detroit.

Le Nain didn’t like that. He cowered before the positive words and energy and eventually ran off, bringing the Marche to successful conclusion.

The Detroit Party Marching Band drew the crowd into the lower floor ballroom of the beautiful Masonic Temple, where revelry continued with dancing, food, and drinking.
le Nain Rouge celebration in the Masonic ballroom
The Marche is a lovely new tradition, and judging by random comments heard from the crowd, will become a long-standing and lovingly attended one as well. If this year’s was 3000 strong, it’s easy to believe that next year’s will be even more.

16 thoughts on “Marche du Nain Rouge 2012

  1. How do I get notified of next years event. I saw people walking to it, but I had to get home to study for a test.
  2. How do I get notified of next years event. I saw people walking to it, but I had to get home to study for a test.
    I'd say just pay attention to Facebook, Twitter, and the website towards the beginning of spring next year ;)
  3. Eric,

    If you're following the Marche on FB and Twitter you'll know far in advance. But the secret is that it happens around the spring equinox so look for us then.
  4. Brian,

    I would like to respond to your thoughts about kids/parents, namely:

    ".There were many kids and families in the parade and in the crowd, but if one were terribly conservative, they would probably find something to be offended by."

    I did talk to a few parents who said that their younger children are particularly afraid of scary things and that the masks/costumes were overwhelming. I don't think this goes to conservative/progressive as much as it does kid's tolerance. Namely, kids and adults dress up for different reasons so the more details we can provide families about what happens at the Marche, the better.

    Thanks for the great write up, all PR, especially the positive kind, is greatly appreciated!
  5. I would like to respond to your thoughts about kids/parents
    This stemmed from the fact that I heard a few people mumbling about things like cross-dressers and some of the more sexualized costumes. The funny thing is, they weren't people with kids. The kind of parents who bring kids to these kinds of events are generally not at all hyper-conservative anyway. I loved seeing all the families there.

    I guess what I was trying to get across is that if things like same-sex couples holding hands, cross-dressing, and people wearing skimpy clothing bothers you, you won't enjoy yourself at this event.

    That said, I'm totally bringing my kids next year :D

  6. "Blame it on Le Nain?" *pisses self laughing*
    I got a few pics from my condo but nothing as great as yours. And my dogs didn't care for the parade too much, judging by all their barking. ; )
  7. I just don't understand a response like that. I'd love it if you could enlighten me as to how, exactly, that's not the precise problem with race relations in Detroit. You're saying that, somehow, being white and moving to Detroit is a problem. Please explain that.

    Is being black and moving to Detroit a problem? Is being black and moving out of Detroit an issue? What exactly do you want? What would make YOU happy, Rob?
  8. This event has "Illuminati" written all over it. You should all be very careful. Next thing you know you'll be fighting with the rebellion trying to overthrow a dark lord. Don't worry Rob... I'll keep an eye on these Klan sympathizers. By the way, Rob.... How's that "Ass Hat" fitting these days?

  9. Spoken like a white man who just moved to Detroit ...
    Spoken like a racist Internet troll.

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