Bright colors, the smell of curry and other Indian spices, and the beats of traditional Indian music will consume the Sacred Grove of Packard Lab for Lehigh’s second annual Holi festival.
The festival will take place at 3 p.m. on April 19 in front of Packard Lab.
Holi is the festival of colors, also known as the festival of love. Traditionally, Holi is an Indian religious event, but it has also spread across many cultures as a symbol of togetherness. The celebration of color and music is meant to celebrate springtime, as well as a time to focus on friendships and forget about the materialistic things in life.
This year’s Festival of Colors will be bigger than Lehigh’s previous celebration. The event will include 300 free t-shirts, free food and 400 pounds of colored powder. Pink is the most traditional color that is used in all Holi celebrations in India. During the event, the powder is thrown in the air and on those celebrating until everything in sight is bright with color. It is suggested that participants wear clothes they do not mind getting messy, because although the color washes off for the most part, it can sometimes stain.
DJ Minnit will be also playing music throughout the event. He will be playing his own set along with traditional Indian music. Food will also be available starting at 2:30 p.m. and samosas, a traditional Indian food, will be served at the festival.
There will also be a few surprises throughout the celebration intended to pump up the crowd.
“It’s a really fun way to bring awareness to Indian culture,” said Kris Datta, ’16, the internal chair of the Indian Students Association.
India Club, the Indian Students Association, the Asian Cultural Society and the Hindu Students Organization all collaborated on planning the event. They began planning Holi in February and have met every week to put the celebration together.
Joseph Bhaskar, ’15, the president of the Indian Students Association, said the group is very excited for the event and is happy to hear excitement about it from students across campus.
Those organizing Holi said they hope to make it an event that the campus looks forward to every year. They want to make sure Lehigh students know about the event and have been reaching out through Facebook and posters.
Datta said Holi is a great way to bring Lehigh’s campus together. Around 300 people attended Holi last year and even more are expected to attend this year.
The four clubs hosting the event want Holi to continue to grow every year. They have added more color, t-shirts, food, and surprises to attract people from all over campus.
Global Union, Auxiliary Services, Council for Equity and Community, C20, Dialogue Center, Sase, Division of Student Affairs and all of the Dean of Students departments are also sponsoring Holi.
Ama Chan, ’16, the secretary of Asian Culture Society, noted that the event has more support this year than last year.
“There are a lot of events that don’t appeal to everybody, but last year we had people from a wide variety of organizations,” Bhaskar said.
The rain date for Holi will be April 25.
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