“Holi hai, rang barse.” “It’s Holi, the colors are showering.” These lyrics from a popular Hindi song sung during the springtime festival of Holi in India will soon be heard in Irvine.
On Saturday, April 8, organizers from various community groups, including Gujaratis of North America and United American Indian Association, will host the Indian Spring Festival in Irvine’s Mike Ward Community Park. Around 1,000 people are expected at the event, also hosted by Irvine Councilmember Mike Carroll.
“Usually when we do a celebration, it’s either the North Indian community getting together or the South Indian community getting together,” said Varun Gandhi, a volunteer with Gujaratis of North America. “In this case, we said why not combine the various festivals that are going on at this time and bring people together from all over India.”
Springtime in particular, Gandhi said, is an auspicious time in India when farmers plant the seeds for their crops, but also await to reap the harvest of the old year.
Saturday’s event will see the celebration of seven springtime Indian festivals: Holi, Baisakhi (also pronounced Vaisakhi), Bihu, Vishu, Poila Boishak, Ugadi and Puthandu.
At Holi, or the Festival of Colors, revelers dress in white clothing and throw “gulal” or colored water at each other, celebrating the victory of good over evil and the arrival of spring.
Gaurav Bhargava, the president of the United American Indian Association, said Holi in India is one big party with food, dance and song, where celebrations last at least three days.
“Galley Millo, Dushmani Chhodo, forget all the enmity, just give a hug and be friends again,” Bhargava said. “The most important part of this message that we learned from childhood: If you have a friend and you have a misunderstanding with a friend, just give them a hug on Holi and everything just disappears.”
The harvest festival of Vaisakhi, usually celebrated on April 13 or 14 each year, is…
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