Holi in the City at Stage 48 (3.26.16)

The Festival of Colors celebrates

the coming of spring,

the joy of friendship

and equality for all.

Join a beautiful crowd at Stage48 and get painted in reds, yellows, greens, pinks and enjoy the Festival of colors in style with food, drinks, and the amazing beats of DJ Ash G, Raj Minocha, DJ Insomnia, DJ Ambition, DJ Harsh & DJ Amit along with Percussion By World Famous RAVI BINDRA & AMIT SETH.

Welcome to the happiest day party in New York City!  The Festival of Colors celebrates the coming of spring, the joy of friendship, and equality for all. This Indian Festival happens ever year, not only in India but throughout the world. Join us on March 26th. People of all nationality and ethnicity are encouraged to participate!

Make sure to wear white because this party gets colorful. The colored powders used in Holi represent happiness, love, and the freedom to live vibrantly. Take the opportunity to cover yourself and your friends in colorful powders and dance your heart out. Enjoy musical performances, delicious food, and an afternoon of messy, color fun! Hope you all can make it!

www.holiinthecity.com

Holi Phagwa is the Hindu festival of colors.  It celebrates the coming of spring, fruitful harvests, unity, joy, and a tale from the Bhagavad Gita. It is traditional to celebrate by, among other things, throwing vibrantly colored powder (Holi Gulal) at one another.  In addition to the throwing of colored powder it is traditional to light bonfires in celebration of the miraculous escape of a young devotee of the god Vishnu. A demon tried to throw him into a fire, but he escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion.

One of Holi’s biggest customs is the loosening strictness of social structures, which normally include age, sex, status, and caste. Holi closes the wide gaps between social classes and brings Hindus together.  Together, the rich and poor, women and men, enjoy each other’s presence on this joyous day. Additionally, Holi lowers the strictness of social norms.  No one expects the decorum of normal life; as a result, the atmosphere is filled with excitement and joy.

Holi festival has other cultural significance. It is the festive day to end and rid oneself of past errors, as well as a justification to reset and renew ruptured relationships, end conflicts by meeting others, a day to forget and forgive, end conflicts and accumulated emotional impurities from past.  People pay or forgive debts, as well as deal anew with those in their lives.

Traditionally, washable natural plant-derived colors such as turmeric, neem, dhak, kumkum were used; but water-based commercial pigments are increasingly used. All colors are used. Everyone in open areas such as streets and parks are game. Inside homes or at doorways though, only dry powder is used to smear each other’s face.  People throw colors, and get their targets completely colored up. It is like a water fight, but where the water is colored. People take delight in spraying coloured water on each other. By late morning, everyone looks like a canvas of colors. This is why Holi is given the name “Festival of Colors.”