On Saturday, May 14, the South Asian Student Alliance (SASA) celebrated Holi, a traditional Hindu festival celebrated in India and by Hindus all over the world. This year’s Holi fell during spring break, this way, SASA decided to celebrate in conjunction with DU’s running club to create a cultural event and celebration of the Hindu holiday. 

“I think celebrating Holi is a huge part of being a minority group on campus. Being able to share culture and make people more aware is how others can learn about who we are. You don’t see a lot of people coming from the same background as a lot of South Asian students here. It’s about sharing the culture and informing people about your holidays,” said Shreya Surendra, SASA president.

The event started with a half-mile run or walk followed by catering from Serene Cuisine of India. Afterward, the participants gathered and tossed colored dyes into the sky and on each other. During Holi, it is common to greet others by taking colored powder and touching both sides of the face. 

The centuries-old festival marks the arrival of spring. Holi is a fun-filled colorful commemoration that includes throwing powdered paint—and sometimes water—into the air. All of the colors represent different cultural symbols in the Hindu religion. 

“For me, Holi is all about having fun. It’s a celebration to welcome spring. It’s about good things coming. We’re celebrating how far we’ve come, what is about to come and it’s just about being around people that you enjoy. You play, you listen to music, you dance, you spend time with family,” commented Sunjoi Gandhi, a SASA member.

DU Running Club, which originally wanted to host a color run, partnered with SASA to both avoid cultural appropriation of the festival and to make it more accessible to different students on campus. Color runs, an event widely popular in the United States and around the world, is an often unknown form of cultural appropriation of the holiday.

“We partnered with SASA because we didn’t want to be culturally appropriate by using the color powder like it has been in the past without collaboration. The collaboration gave us a platform to educate and have fun at the same time!” DU Running Club Co-President Phillip Alvarez said. 

“I think joining [Holi] with the running club makes it a lot more palatable for the non-South Asian community because color runs are very similar to what Holi celebrates. And I think that’s very easy for non-South Asian people to grasp,” Gandhi said. 

Holi, the festival of colors, is known as the holiday that brings family, friends and strangers together in celebration for the whole day. 

“Holi in general brings people together. First, we start running and then we can learn about what the word Holi is. Being a small club on campus and then joining with the running club…I feel like we’re bringing more cultural awareness of who we are as a club to students who may not know who we are,” Surenda added.

You can learn more about the SASA through their Instagram and follow for event updates through Crimson Connect.