On April 12 at 2 PM, Students of South Asia (SOSA), Caribbean Student Association (CaribSA), and the Office of Intercultural Affairs (OIA) collaboratively organized a Holi-Phagwah celebration in the Fox-Davidson Courtyard. The event was organized to observe the Hindu festival of Holi, known as Phagwah in parts of the Caribbean. Festivities entail smearing colored powder on people and drenching them in colored water using water guns and water balloons. 

Though the festival was on March 4 this year, the event was organized a little over a month afterwards  due to the prolonged cold temperatures, which would have made it difficult for the students to celebrate the festival to the fullest.

In the past years, SOSA has hosted the event independently. This year, however, the club decided to collaborate with CaribSA due to both regions’ shared history. The goal was for the students to share and celebrate their cultures with the larger student body at Union, and the OIA helped facilitate the same.

The date of the event had been selected due to a promising weather forecast for that weekend in the days leading up to it. Unfortunately, after a warm, sunny Friday, the weekend was cloudy and windy, with a drastic drop in temperatures. Despite the unfortunate weather, the event was a huge success. Students enjoyed playing Holi (Phagwah) with their friends and made more friends at the event itself. The loud music and South Asian and Caribbean snacks catered by the OIA set a joyous vibe that the students loved.

Most students started off in plain white shirts, common attire for the celebration. By the end, most people were covered entirely in colored powder, and some were left completely unrecognizable.

Holi-Phagwah was a great way for both clubs to start off a busy spring term. Watch out for exciting events from SOSA, CaribSA, and all the other clubs at Union over the course of this term.