Holi is a time when people set aside their differences and come together to celebrate with family, friends, and strangers. It is a festival that is enjoyed by people of all ages, and it is marked by enthusiasm and excitement.

The Hindu festival of love, color and spring is one of the most joyous celebrations of the year. It’s a time when people don simple, inexpensive clothes and take to the streets to drench each other in clouds of colored powder and buckets of water. There’s singing, dancing, and of course, food.

After two years of limited celebrations due to COVID-19 restrictions, many Holi festivals are back in full swing. This week, Hindus around the world are celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colors—a springtime celebration in which revelers throw brightly colored powders at friends and strangers alike. Celebrants welcome the arrival of spring, commemorate Krishna’s pranks, and allow one another a chance to drop inhibitions and simply play and dance together. 

This year’s holiday falls on March 8, but in some parts of India, communities begin the festivities by lighting bonfires the night before in a celebration known as Holika Dahan, or Choti Holi. Once the bonfires have gone out, some Hindus smear the ashes on their bodies as a purifying ritual.

The bonfires are a nod to one of the most well-known legends associated with the festival – a story about the triumph of good over evil.