A significant Hindu festival filled with colorful clouds of chalk dust, live music and dance troupes is coming to Fort Worth’s Panther Island.
Mystic Mandala, a Plano-based organization, has been hosting the Dallas Festival of Colors since 2010. The festival is known as one of the largest Holi celebrations in the metroplex, drawing thousands of participants each year. It makes its inaugural debut in Fort Worth on March 16.
Ananda Kripa, director of Mystic Mandala and media director, says the reason for hosting the festival in Fort Worth is to reach celebrants and bring Southeast Asian culture over to the west side of the metroplex.
“It’s about bringing a little bit of that culture here to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and primarily, in this case, Fort Worth. Fort Worth does not have anything like this,” Kripa said.
If you go:
What: Fort Worth Festival of Colors
Where: Panther Island Pavilion
When: March 16
Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Price: $8 for general admission. Children 10 years and younger are free.
Holi is a northern Indian cultural festival that marks the end of the winter season and the start of spring. Also known as the festival of colors, Holi is often celebrated by throwing colored water or vibrant powdered chalk on one another. Holi this year is celebrated on March 25.
Celebrated predominately by Hindus and Sikhs, the religious elements of Holi draw from stories about Hindu deities such as Radha and Krishna or stories about good triumphing over evil, such as when a devoted worshiper of Vishnu, another Hindu deity, killed a demon king in ancient India, according to Britannica.
Niketa Hira is CEO of BhangraFuze, a dance group in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that has collaborated with the Dallas Festival of Colors for the past four years.
“Whatever god you believe in, Holi is so much more than that. It’s not just a celebration of any particular belief or religion, it truly is a harbinger of the sign of good times,” Hira said.
Another Holi celebration coming to Tarrant County
- Nepalese Society of Texas is hosting a Megha Holi celebration in Euless on March 23. Click here for details.
Did we miss one? Let us know at hello@fortworthreport.org
Kripa suggests wearing white to the festival so that the colorful powder will stand out. She also suggests only wearing or bringing items inside that you don’t mind getting stained by the powders.
There will also be food trucks, live music and Southeast Asian dances and performances. Hira’s dance troupe will be performing a Bollywood-Texas fusion dance in light of bringing the festival to Fort Worth for the first time, she said.
“It’s gonna be a little bit of swing dancing, the music is going to be Bollywood and some other international tracks. We’re really excited about that and we’re hoping that we get the crowd into it,” Hira said.
Kripa hopes the festival can keep coming to Fort Worth after this year, but it is dependent on the turnout and the response they get from the community, she said.
“We’re just hoping we get that support on a local level so that we can continue to offer this event in Fort Worth every year.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org or @marissaygreene. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.