Video from Elton Anderson
Holi is pretty much the festival of colors. It’s when the winter is over, and the people of India celebrate spring. They symbolize it by lighting fires, throwing paint, and expressing a release of what was in the past, like a rebirth.
It lasts two or three days, and people celebrate with colors, drums, music, and parades. The celebration is all about spring, with the new buds, new flowers, and growth of the season. In the Hindu religion, Krishna thew colored paint at his milkmaids as a joke. Paint and color are a big part of the festivities.
Traveler Elton Anderson Jr. says, “Be open to the experience. Be open to what it has in store. You know what’s going to happen. You will get paint thrown in your face and you’re going to be surrounded by a billion people. Just be ready for that.”
Visitors coming to celebrate Holi from other countries should make sure to be aware of their surroundings. Crowds can be aggressive, according to Anderson.
He also warns that wearing white may not be the best idea. “We decided to get like these all-white outfits come to find out, wearing all white to Holi such a touristy thing, it’s something that you know, tourists created years ago. The regular people that are from India, they will have on their shorts, their pants their regular clothes, and sometimes traditional Indian wear. But the majority of the people just had on regular outfits.”
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