Holi Festival: “The most fun event” in Brisbane

Hundreds of students, with their faces and white clothes smeared with coloured power, gathered at Forgan Smith Lawns of the University of Queensland on March 14 to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, love and spring dedicated to the deities Radha and Krishna.

It’s the third year the event is held at the college. 

Participants wore white, which acts as a canvas for the colours. The powders, a mixture of cornflour and colourings, symbolise different blessings: red for love, green for new beginnings and blue for Krishna, according to the National Geographic. 

Students smeared and threw the coloured powders either in the air or at each other. “The Holi is the only event you will attend where you will leave looking completely different to how you arrived,” said the Student Union of the University of Queensland, in a post on Instagram.

DJ Gaurav Bose and Martin Garrix played music in the middle of the lawn, while students slipped and slid in water pools to the beat of Hindu music.

“I think it is fantastic, this is the most fun event that I have had in university so far,” said Camille Bloomfield, an 18-year-old student.

“I love seeing all the people being so friendly with each other. It just feels like a community being able to come together to celebrate.” 

The University of Queensland set up a Cultural Inclusion Council in 2021 that has been holding events with different cultures, such as Chinese New Year, Holi Festival and Toga Party. 

But Shaktika Malhotr, 25, an Indian student, thought the event may not help to spread her culture. “This event is not preaching about Hinduism. People are just coming here to have fun,” said Malhotr.  

Despite that, Malhotr said this kind of event helps drive away the homesick. “But being an international student, it is one of the times where you miss home during festivals,” she added.

“And this cultural event makes us closer to our home country, our roots, and everything.”