MAIN Holidays Holi Festival 2024

Holi is a major celebration in India better known today as the Festival of Colors.

When is Holi on the Western calendar? This year, Holi is officially celebrated on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Playing Holi or sharing colors (the throwing of colored powders at street revelers) is a highlight of this holiday. Gifts of sweets or Holi colors are common and Holi greeting cards are often sent.

In some parts of India, Holi is also considered a New Year's celebration. The festival arrives on day after the full moon of the Hindu lunar month of Phagan.

The holiday is observed all over India and celebrates the harvest of the winter crops as it welcomes the beginning of Spring.

The celebration has become so popular, in fact, that Holi as even been appropriated by a new generation of Americans with the traditional "throwing of colors" at new age music festivals across the US. (For more, see a full schedule of 2022 events at festivalofcolorsusa.com.)

Holi - the world's most colorful festival

No matter which part of the world the festivals happen, they are guaranteed to be feasts of color and usually involve sprinkling colored waters and brightly colored powders on other revellers. Balloons filled with colored waters are also splashed on friends and anyone else who happens to be nearby!

Pichkari, plastic, metal or even bamboo tubes filled with colors are used to share the colors of the holiday. Beautifully colored clothes are also worn in dances and other festivities.

Many areas celebrate with huge bonfires that have different meanings depending on the local legends that are the basis for the holiday. Along with traditional Holi recipes, sweets are a special part of Holi.

If you can imagine a holiday that combines Thanksgiving, Carnival and Valentine's Day with the colors of Easter — but where people get colored instead of eggs — you have some idea of why this holiday is so eagerly awaited.

also see -> Diwali   |   Makar Sankranti

Rakhi    |   World Friendship Day   |    India Independence Day

More about Holi around the Web:

The Holi Festival - The graphics on this site include modern drawings and photos as well as ancient Jain and Rajasthani paintings and other early depictions of the celebration of Holi. They also have a nice explanation of the traditions and sharing colors involved in the spring festival...

Taj Online - Holi - More legends and history surrounding the ancient beginnings of this festival. This site also has a shop to send gifts, Holi Hampers or Holi Thalis to your friends, family and special friends to celebrate the sharing and the colors of the Spring...

Holi e-Cards - A good selection of cards for grown ups and children. They also don't forget that Holi celebrates love and have cards to share your feelings as well as colors...