Last Friday, March 6, billions of people around the world celebrated the beautiful holiday of Holi, which signifies the victory of good over evil and the plentiful harvests associated with the coming of spring. Holi is a Hindu spring festival, also known as the festival of colors and love, celebrated every year at the approach of the vernal equinox. This holiday was primarily celebrated by Hindus around the world, but has grown more popular among other religions that participated in the fun festivities.

The Holi celebrations start off with everyone gathered around a Holika bonfire, singing and dancing the night before Holi begins. The bonfire signifies the burning away of evil, thus the triumph of good over evil in the world. When morning comes, Holi turns into the craziest “Color War” the world has ever seen!

“I would totally celebrate Holi since it would be really fun to watch the beautiful colors flying around in the air; when they land on you they make you so bright and cheerful,” sophomore Bryan Tucker said.

People from all walks of life ambush their friends or strangers, either throwing bags of dried colored powder or water balloons filled with colored water called “rang.” Some people go as far as filling water guns with rang to have a delightful “water gun war,” where the only thing these “soldiers” are being covered in is color.

Holi is taken very seriously in India, so much that in fact the whole country of India is practically shut down for the celebration; on that day, the unsuspecting citizens of India leave their homes at their own risk of getting covered in colored powder. Once they’re outside, they experience a fantastic day filled with memories of friends, family, blaring speakers playing Bollywood dance tracks, and the aroma of a special drink called “bhang” which is made especially for Holi.

“I went outside to discover a magically chaotic scene of unidentifiable men, women and children running around throwing rang on anyone and everyone in sight. Pretty soon I was unidentifiable as well,” junior Harleen Chawla said.

Holi is definitely one of those holidays that everyone must experience at least once in his or her lifetime. The holiday is celebrated with fun “Color War” style festivities, the consumption of great food, and most importantly memorable experiences with friends and family. Keep your calenders marked for next year’s Holi which is predicted to take place on Wednesday, March 4, 2016.