Holi Festival to Be Celebrated on Sunday, March 24

Jamaicans and Indian nationals will celebrate Holi Festival at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Old Hope Road, Kingston 7, on Sunday, March 24.

Holi is an annual Hindu Festival of Colours, celebrated in India and across the world to welcome the Spring season.

This year, the festival falls on Monday, March 25; however, it will be celebrated in Jamaica on Sunday, March 24.

Also known as the Festival of Colours, Holi will take place at the India-Jamaica Friendship Garden at the Bandstand Lawns, beginning at 11:00 a.m. and ending at 2:00 p.m.

The event is being organised by the High Commission of India.

It will feature cultural performances, fun games, food, drink and traditional sweets, and highlighted by festival-goers playfully throwing coloured powders in the air and at each other.

Some of the colours used in Holi are red, yellow, blue, green, pink, orange and purple.

High Commissioner of the Republic of India, His Excellency Masakui Rungsung, told JIS News that Holi signifies the beginning of spring harvesting and the celebration of colours and life.

He said that there is no entry fee to attend the event; however, persons will be encouraged to wear wristbands.

He advised patrons to register by sending an email to accts.kingston@mea.gov.in to get their wristbands.

Persons can also call or visit the High Commission’s office, 5 Earls Court, Acadia, Kingston 8, between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. for wristbands.

Wristbands are provided for security purposes and to ensure that the venue is not overcrowded.

“We need to have a rough number of people registered. We do not want a situation where 1,000 people are registered already and another 1,000 are coming in through the gate… so if the ground is completely full then we cannot allow entry anymore. We want to avoid that situation,” the High Commissioner said.

He is also advising patrons to wear clothes that they do not mind getting stained, since they may be splashed with coloured powders.

“People are expected to come in clothes that they don’t mind getting stained or being coloured, preferably in white clothes. If you have on white clothes, then multiple colours will be seen on you… it just looks nice,” he said.

Holi Festival is usually celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar calendar month in March.