Nearly 1,000 students gathered on Lee Field Saturday to celebrate the coming of spring with friends and dance in a cloud of colored powder at NC State’s Holi festival. 

Holi, the traditional Indian festival of color famous for the brightly colored powders people throw on each other, officially took place in India on March 6. However, in order to make it accessible to students, NC State’s organizers, which included Maitri, Ektaa, Delta Sigma Iota Fraternity and Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, decided to hold the event Saturday. 

The participation at this year’s Holi festival was more than double from last year’s event, which had about 300 participants. In addition to the jump in numbers, this year’s event featured a professional DJ. 

About every 20 minutes during the festival, the DJ counted down for everyone to throw their colored powder together, creating giant clouds of color throughout the celebration.

“It was a lot of fun; everyone just shared the same happiness,” said Brentley Hovey, a sophomore studying chemical engineering. “The colors were flying, and it was like everyone was throwing happiness at each other.”

 Shaunak Turaga, co-president of Hindu Students Association and a junior studying electrical engineering, said Holi is a Hindu holiday that celebrates the spring harvest. 

“It’s a story of good defeating evil and celebrates the commitment to better ourselves with a new year’s resolution,” Turaga said.

While Holi is a traditional Hindu holiday, it is often celebrated throughout the South Asian community and all around the world, Turaga said. 

The colors used at the events are representative of the colors of new life that appear when the season changes from winter to spring. 

“Once the colors are washed away, they represent that the color is still within us throughout the year,” Turaga said. “It’s a celebration of life, things that are positive, and it’s a celebration of spring. It’s just a joyful time to welcome the new season.”

The event began at noon and lasted almost four hours. Organizers distributed more than 2,300 free colored powder packets for participants to throw on each other. 

The event brought together many students from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Andrea Cantarello, a graduate student from France studying business administration, said this was her first time participating in Holi.  

“There are so many people and so many colors,” Cantarello said. “You go there and after two minutes you are completely covered in color. Everyone is dancing, running. It’s really fun.”

Marjolaine Crespo, a graduate student from France studying civil engineering, said when she went to a Holi celebration in France, participants raced each other. 

“I like that people were throwing colors,” Crespo said. “They don’t care if they know you, they are just having fun. There is also music, so that’s really cool.”

Setting up the event came with a few difficulties for organizers, according to Yatish Mehta, a graduate student studying computer science and president of Maitri, the Indian Graduate Students Association. After realizing they had no power source, they had to acquire generators the night before the event.

The colors also posed a problem for some participants, as it is common for the powder to end up in their eyes and mouths.

“I got paint in my eyes and in my mouth, so that wasn’t fun and didn’t taste too good, and I am going to wash my clothes immediately,” said Hovey. 

However, Hovey said the event was worth dealing with the powder problems.

“I kind of felt like LeBron James when he throws chalk in the air before games,” Hovey said. 

The event was funded with the help of PNC Bank and www.DesiOPT.com, according to Mehta.