My First Holi Festival
My First Holi Festival Experience at Leeds Holi Festival
As a relatively uncultured Yorkshireman, I honestly had no idea what to expect when Ministry of Colours sent me to work at the UK’s largest Holi Festival at Beaver Works in Leeds.
Most festivals I had attended before came with a strict “no mess” policy. Holi, however, could not have been more different. At this festival, people encouraged you to make as much colourful mess as possible using safe and vibrant colour powder.
Celebrating my first Holi festival experience turned out to be colourful, energetic and unforgettable. More importantly, I quickly realised Holi means much more than just a party. The festival encourages people to forget differences, come together and celebrate joy, unity and love.
What Is Holi Festival?
Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, began in India and now brings people together across the world.
The festival celebrates the arrival of spring and symbolises the triumph of good over evil in Hindu tradition. During Holi celebrations, people throw colourful powders, known as gulal, into the air and over each other. As a result, the event quickly turns into a huge explosion of colour, music and celebration.
Each colour used during Holi carries its own meaning:
- Red colour powder symbolises love and passion
- Yellow colour powder represents happiness and positivity
- Blue colour powder connects with calm, courage and serenity
- Green colour powder symbolises energy, harvest and new beginnings
- Pink colour powder represents joy and playfulness
- Orange colour powder connects with courage and self-awareness
- Purple colour powder symbolises royalty, power and wealth
Watching people light up as we handed out these colours created an incredible atmosphere from the very beginning.
The Music Completely Surprised Me
As the festival continued, I found myself completely immersed in the atmosphere.
Throughout the day, live Bhangra artists filled the venue with huge energy. Artists such as JAZ DHAMI kept the crowd moving from start to finish.
Now, as someone who usually listens to Hip-Hop, I never expected to connect so much with Bhangra music. However, I quickly noticed similarities between the two styles. The heavy drums, energetic beats and constant rhythm kept my head nodding all day.
Before long, I found myself dancing with complete strangers while people covered my face in powder as a sign of celebration and affection.
At that moment, I finally understood what people mean when they describe Holi as more than an event. It genuinely felt like a shared experience built around happiness, freedom and togetherness.
Prepare to Get Covered in Colour
Thankfully, the Ministry of Colours team warned me before the event started.
They told me to wear old clothes, budget sunglasses and comfortable footwear. Looking back, this turned out to be excellent advice.
Within minutes of the gates opening, colour powder covered me from head to toe.
Most of the powder seemed to end up purple, which honestly felt slightly ironic. Purple symbolises royalty, wealth and power, and none of those qualities describe me particularly well.
Thankfully, I narrowly escaped another Ministry of Colours tradition too. Apparently, new employees sometimes get talked into wearing a rainbow sequin skirt at their first Holi event. Fortunately, I managed to avoid that fate and settled for a colourful flower leis instead.
Even so, the festival atmosphere made it impossible to feel self-conscious. Almost immediately, everyone around me encouraged each other to relax, join in and enjoy the moment.
The Food Was Just as Memorable
Of course, Holi celebrations involve much more than colour powder and music.
During the festival, I also got the chance to try traditional sweets and drinks that people commonly enjoy during Holi celebrations. I tasted gujiyas and thandai for the first time, and honestly, both were incredible.
The food added another layer to the whole experience. Everywhere I looked, people laughed, danced, shared food and celebrated together.
Holi Gave Me a Completely New Perspective
Before attending Leeds Holi Festival, I expected a colourful party. Instead, I experienced something much more meaningful.
Holi felt welcoming from the moment I arrived. The atmosphere encouraged everyone to join in regardless of their background, culture or religion.
For the first time in a long time, I genuinely felt free to let go, enjoy the moment and simply have fun without worrying about anything else.
As a result, my first Holi festival experience completely changed the way I viewed the celebration.
Holi is not just an event. It is a feeling.
Would I Recommend Holi Festival? Absolutely
Regardless of your cultural background or religious beliefs, I would absolutely recommend attending a Holi Festival at least once.
Whether you love music, dancing, food, colour or simply being around positive energy, Holi offers an experience unlike anything else.
At Ministry of Colours, we proudly supply vibrant traditional Holi colour powder for festivals, community events and celebrations across the UK.
If you are planning your own Holi event, make sure to explore our range of:
I genuinely cannot wait to relive the excitement next year.
What Is A Colour Run?
Taking inspiration from the ancient Hindu festival of Holi, a colour run is a fun run with a difference. Colour powder is thrown at passing runners from colour stations that are dotted along a course. Focusing more on creating memories than the time you get around the track, this makes a colour run a perfect family event!
But how does a colour run work, I hear you ask! Let me guide you through it all...
When to hold a colour run
One of the biggest risks with planning a colour run is the weather. The perfect colour run weather is a warm, dry and still day. Think spring time or early summer. Running in the middle of the day in the height of summer can cause overheating, so take this into consideration.
If possible, plan the course on a field or grassy area. You can run on tarmac, however most people find running on grass more comfortable. If you don't have your own space to use, speak with your council authority about using a park, or ask local businesses that have outdoor space available if they would be happy to let you use it.
Volunteers
Get recruiting early, colour runs are an hands-on-deck event! You'll need volunteers at colour stations, refreshment and activity stalls and of course marshalling the event. If you're finding it difficult to get confirmed volunteers, reach out to local businesses. Not only does it look good for their Corporate Social Responsibility, but it's a really fun team activity!
What to wear?
White is the colour of choice for a colour run. Our white t-shirts are the perfect canvas for the vibrant colour powders to stand out. We also offer a bespoke printing service, get in touch for a quote.
Eye protection is a must, as with anything, if our colour powder goes in your eyes it can cause irritation. We have a range of vibrant and affordable sunglasses available here.
Our motto is dress for mess as the colour powders can cause staining, so don't wear your fancy white trainers! We recommend comfortable and sturdy trainers, that you don't mind getting mucky. Colour powder on tarmac can be slippy, so be sure to take care! It's worth having a waiver available for runners/children who are taking part - we have an waiver template available, please get in touch for this.
What is colour powder?
Contrary to popular belief, the powders that are thrown at colour runs aren't paint. Our powders are made from corn starch and food grade dyes. They're designed to be kind to skin, so we don't add any preservatives or bulking agents. You can find out more about our colour powders by reading through our material and safety data sheet.
Charity colour run
As seen in the Forget Me Not Children's Hospice case study, a colour run can be an incredibly profitable event. Increase profit by having refreshment stalls available, sell accessories and 100g bags of colour powder to spectators, and have the usual 'whack-a-mole', buy a bottle and teddy tombola stalls available. These are great ways to raise more money.
Photo opportunities
The best way to capture the vibrancy of the day is to organise a 'colour cloud' at the end of the run. Simply throw handfulls of colour powder, or opened 100g bags, into the air to create a wonderful rainbow cloud of colours! This will give you wonderful images to share after the event, and can also be used for promotion for next years event!
Hopefully you've now got a better understanding of what a colour run is and how it all works. If you still have any questions, get in touch with our friendly team of colour experts who will be more than happy to help!
Olympic Themed Colour Run Activities
Add the element of colour to your 2024 Olympic Games themed sports day!
The Olympics 2024 will be taking place in Paris between Friday 26th July and Sunday 11th August. There’s plenty of ways to tie the leading international sporting event into colour themed sports days and fundraising ideas, so let’s make like Tom Daley and dive in!
First things first, hacky sacks!
We know children love colour powder, so to ensure the fun lasts even longer and they don’t throw it all at once, by filling odd socks with colour powder, you can have hours of fun! A hacky sack is a great way to play a number of Olympic Sports, in the school playground. Send out a request to parents, for donations of odd socks (we know every household has them!), and get filling them up. You can even get students involved in making up the hacky sacks, beforehand!
Archery
Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting arming young children with bows and arrows in the playground! This is our child-friendly take. Using chalk, create targets on the playground floor for children to throw hacky sacks into. When the hacky sack hits the ground a burst of colour powder will be released and mark the spot it hit. The team member who gets closest to the bullseye wins a point!
Track
There’s plenty of ways to make running more fun for kids, Sport Aberdeen have an amazing selection of ideas that are suitable for children of all ages. Our favourite way to add an element of excitement to running is to incorporate colour powder!
- Colour Run – Using a paper cup, scoop out colour powder from our 5kg bags of colour powder and throw this at the running children, covering them in vibrant colours. From April we will have our black colour powder available to purchase, so you can use the 5 colours of the Olympic Rings to keep on brand!
- Relays – Switch the baton for a hacky sack or 100g bag of colour powder. At the end of the race, the winners get covered in the other teams colours.
- Long jump – Add a sprinkling of colour powder to the sand pit so when landing there is a cloud of colour! Have volunteers add more colour powder when needed.
- Colour Run Obstacle Course – Like above, but add in hurdles, hoops to jump through, a slip and slide area or even inflatables! The kids will love it.
Throwing
- Shot put – Participants should stand inside a chalk circle and hold a hacky sack against their shoulder. The technique for throwing shot put is an art form in itself, as you can see in the video of the Müller British Athletic Championships!
- Discus – A similar technique to shot put, so make sure to warm up before this event. Rather than using a hacky sack try using an individual 100g bag of colour powder!
Colour-and-spoon race
Forget the egg, we’re all about the colour powder here! Not your typical Olympic sport, but you really can’t beat this style of event for sports day! Scoop a spoonful of colour powder for each child and set them on their way. You could add an extra element to this event by introducing obstacles.
When it comes to hosting your own Olympic Sports Day in the playground, focus on inclusivity and participation for all students. By creating a welcoming and friendly environment, you can foster not only physical skills but also social-emotional growth and a sense of belonging among your students. Let’s come together and celebrate the power of sport, friendship, and inclusivity in your very own Olympic Games.