Recently, in honor of the Holi Color Festival, students gathered together with a rainbow of colored powder to ring in the ancient Hindu tradition.

First, students gave a presentation on the festival and its rich history. According to the presentation, the Festival of Colors is celebrated throughout India to mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring, as well as the triumph of good over evil. The festival is usually celebrated for two days, firstly the Holika Dahan and then Holi, a colorful celebration in which people shower each other in water and colored powder. While the Festival of Colors is a Hindu tradition, students brought along friends and invited onlookers to join in on the celebration, so this was many of the attendees’ first exposure to the joyous festival.

Then, after the presentation, the fun could begin. Students eagerly filled water guns from buckets and chased each other around the field while throwing fistfuls of colored powder. The air was instantly filled with vibrant smoke and laughter. The color stuck to the wet clothes, and, in a matter of minutes, the students were covered from head to toe in the colorful powder. Black shirts quickly turned hot pink, and everyone’s white socks were dyed all shades of blue, yellow, green, and red. Once the power and water ran out, everyone gathered together in their wet, colorful clothes for a group picture and then went their separate ways to ring in the arrival of spring.