Festival at Flavet Field celebrates events in Hindu mythology

March 21, 2014

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The second annual UF Holi Festival of Colors is coming to Flavet Field from 11 a.m.to 2 p.m. March 22.

Students Taking Action Against Racism, Student Government, UF Intercultural Engagement, as well as the Indian Student Association, are hosting the event along with several other co-sponsoring organizations.

Holi Fest is an annual festival celebrated on the day after the full moon in the Hindu month of Phalguna (early March). It celebrates spring, commemorates various events in Hindu mythology and is time of disregarding social norms and indulging in general merrymaking. The entire holiday is associated with a loosening of social restrictions normally associated with caste, sex, status and age. Holi thus bridges social gaps and brings people together: employees and employers, men and women, rich and poor, young and old.

The central ritual of Holi is the throwing and applying of colored water and powders on friends and family, which gives the holiday its common name “Festival of Colors”.

In its first year, UF Holi attracted more than 1,000 students, faculty/staff, and local residents. This year’s festival is anticipated to bring in over 2,000 people this year. The first 500 people to arrive wearing a Holi tattoo from Turlington Plaza will receive a free “I survived Holi” T-shirt, while supplies and quantities last.

For more information visit: http://festivalofcolorsuf.com/ or like our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/UFHoli