Paint will soar across the sky this weekend as students of many races and ethnicities celebrate the traditional Hindu festival Holi.
Although the actual Holi festival took place March 6 in India, the UF Indian Student Association and UF Student Government will be hosting UF’s third annual staging of the festival at 11 a.m. Saturday on Hume Field.
Nazmi Ahmed, a 21-year-old sustainability studies junior who went to UF Holi last year, said her favorite part about Holi is playing with the colorful powders.
“It’s a sense of holiness, wholeness, and you feel really spiritual at the same time,” she said.
Dhara Patel, the president of the ISA, said UF Holi is important because it signifies the start of something fresh.
“I think Holi, in a sense, means it’s a brand new year, it’s a brand new season, it’s a brand new everything, so live positively,” the 21-year-old anthropology junior said.
Ahmed, who is Bangladeshi-American, said Holi brings her closer to Indian culture. She said it’s important for UF students to learn about other cultures through events such as Holi.
“I think everyone should go to Holi,” she said. “It’s a wonderful experience.”
Patel said there are new additions that seek to make the event more traditional and fun at the same time. There will be a bonfire at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Graham Oasis where students can write down something they want to overcome before throwing it into the fire as a way to signify the burning of the past.
“It basically takes out the old, brings in the new,” Patel said.
Patel said the first 500 students to show up Saturday will receive free T-shirts, and the first 1,000 will get free temporary tattoos. A DJ will be playing American and Indian music, and there will be tubs of water. Patel suggested to bring water guns. Free Krishna Lunch and sodas will also be provided.
Patel said during Holi in India, people are covered in colored powder, which temporarily eliminates the country’s caste system.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 3/25/2015 under the headline “Holi to return to campus with a dash of color, free Krishna”]
Sarim Zaidi, a 24-year-old UF computer science graduate student, cheers at the festival on Flavet Field. Holi is observed to celebrate spring.
