UF students Ashutosh Patil, Niveda Cheralathan, Prathibha Padmanabhan, Praseedha Subramanian and Vignesh Ganesan, along with another UF student, engage in paint throwing at the beginning of the celebration. (WUFT News/Elyssa Kemper)
Attendees celebrated the holiday Holi with colored powder, water and even mud at the University of Florida’s Indian Student Association and UF Student Government’s fourth annual Holi festival.
Holi is a Hindu festival of colors from India that celebrates spring and commemorates various events in Hindu mythology. Although the holiday fell on March 13 this year, the UF celebration took place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday at Flavet Field.
About 2,500 to 3,000 people came to the event, according to Zachary Sandoval, a director of UF Holi. Attendees could receive a free white t-shirt and Krishna lunch after collecting two bags each of colored powder. After event organizers counted down, attendees could throw the colored powder at each other and in the air, yelling “Happy Holi!”
After the big moment, the Gainesville Fire Department was there to relieve people of the heat with their fire hoses. Laughs filled the air as the water rained down on the crowd.
“To me, it’s a way to continue to keep our culture alive and strong and to keep the tradition going. Seeing my fellow Gator family having such a good time and enjoying the music, food and games is such a great feeling,” said UF student Vishesh Swaroop. Swaroop is a member of the Indian Student Association and assisted the directors in planning and executing the event.
Shannon Rieger, a UF student, stated “I didn’t really know what Holi was before this, but it has been so fun. I can’t wait for next time!”
UF Holi staff members hand out bags of colored powder to attendees of the event. The color throwing began at 12:45 p.m. as a drone caught aerial footage. (Antara Sinha/WUFT News)
Krisha Gupta, right, blows bubbles into the crowd with a bubble machine. (Antara Sinha/WUFT News)
Winnie Hui thinks ahead, smartly placing her cell phone into a plastic bag before the colored powder is thrown into the air. (Benjamin Cabral/WUFT News)
Vigneshwar Ravi and Vishal Vignes decide to throw color at each other before the countdown begins. (Elyssa Kemper/WUFT News)
UF students Ashutosh Patil, Niveda Cheralathan, Prathibha Padmanabhan, Praseedha Subramanian and Vignesh Ganesan, along with another UF student, engage in paint throwing at the beginning of the celebration. (Elyssa Kemper/WUFT News)
Attendees at the event throw colored powder into each other’s faces and hair. (Antara Sinha/WUFT News)
Ashwin Nair, a 22-year-old UF graduate student, throws a Frisbee to his friends while waiting for the color throwing to start. (Antara Sinha/WUFT News)
Shahreen Daman and Anson Tan sit on the shoulders of Ian Mitchell and Sander Mulderto pose for a photo. (Elyssa Kemper/WUFT News)
Melanie Lane records Victoria Trieu and Lisa Lam on her GoPro as they blow the brightly colored powder into the air. (Benjamin Cabral/WUFT News)
The Gainesville Fire Department brought a fire truck to the event to provide hoses and water to spray down the attendees at the Holi celebration. (Antara Sinha/WUFT News)
Killian Pennell sits on the shoulders of his father, Kyle Pennell as a fire truck sprays water onto the crowd. (Elyssa Kemper/WUFT News)
Anirudh Bhagat’s friends ambush him with a wet mud attack after the firemen soaked Flavet Field with their fire hoses. (Benjamin Cabral/WUFT News)