Holi-day in Venice
Music, laughter, and colored powder filled the air on April 7 during the second annual Venice Holi Celebration at Penmar Park in Los Angeles. Children and adults alike ran around transforming each other's clothes from white to rainbow and enjoyed the music and dance performances.
“Holi is such a beautiful festival of spring, of color, of dance, of joy, and innocence and fun,” said Mayuri Bhandari, one of the dance performers. “I think it is great that more people are becoming aware of events like this.”
Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, Love, and Spring, is a Hindu festival celebrating the love between the deities Radha and Krishna. The colored powders symbolize different things, for example, red symbolizes marriage and blue represents the color of Krishna’s skin.
There are many legends explaining the holiday’s origins. One of the more popular ones says that it began when Krishna was young, and he was worried that Radha would find his skin color unappealing. To ease Krishna, his mother suggested he and Radha throw dye at each other's faces, so they both have matching, vibrantly colored skin. Legend says the two lovingly did this, leading Holi to recreate the moment each year.
Los Angeles City Council member Traci Park (Dist. 11) presented Venice Holi Celebration organizer Ireesh Lal with a formal thank you from the city. The event was hosted in partnership with her office.
As chair of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics Games Committee, Park said that events like these get Los Angeles excited and prepared to showcase the city’s arts and culture to the world. “It makes us all better as a city, as friends, and as neighbors,” said Park.
