Colored powder hung in the air before settling onto white t-shirts in bursts of reds, yellows, blues and greens. As the color continued to spread and smear, students’ laughter rose above the music.
On Friday, Feb. 27, at 5 p.m., Claremont McKenna’s (CMC) Green Beach — typically the site of many Saturday night functions — transformed into a lively cultural celebration hosted by CMC’s Asian Pacific American Student Association (APASA).
Green Beach was quickly covered in an explosion of colors, as around 40 students made the grassy field their personal playground. Students brandished their water guns and scooped powder into their hands, excited to play Holi with friends and strangers. When the first white t-shirt looked like it had been through the tie-dye ringer, it was official — Holi had begun.
While Holi is a popular, widely-celebrated holiday, many students are unaware of the tradition’s deep cultural roots. Traditionally, Holi is a Hindu festival celebrated not just in India but in many other South Asian countries and parts of the West. It signifies the end of winter, and falls on the evening of the full moon day, or Purnima.
Holi is generally known as the “Festival of Colors.” In recent years, this celebration has grown substantially in popularity in the U.S. Knowing this, APASA encouraged students to attend even if they were not familiar with Holi.
Rather than being a strictly religious event, Holi offered all 5C students the opportunity to learn more about this holiday and celebrate the arrival of spring.
Srey On Peuy CM ’27, who has made it to Holi celebrations every year since coming to Claremont, expressed her excitement about experiencing this cultural holiday.
“I’m Cambodian, but I know a lot of friends who are Hindu and who celebrate the holiday, and it’s become a yearly tradition,” Peuy said. “Even if we’re not from the region, we have heard about this holiday of colors… it is the highlight of my day.”
This year’s Holi celebration was meaningful to both first-timers and students who grew up celebrating the holiday. However, for the latter, the event offered something new: the chance to share this day with friends and the larger 5C community.
“The people who celebrate really care, and I’m happy they have a space to do something they wouldn’t be able to do if this didn’t happen,” Peuy said. “People miss home the most at this time because it’s such a big thing back home.”
Kenny Eckel CM ’28, as the President of APASA, explained how, during the planning process, the club focused on two main components that constitute any good college party: music and alcohol.
“Since we knew it was going to be a darty, we had to get everything set up and approved by CMC in terms of having alcohol, the DJs and more,” Eckel said.
The club’s main goal was to create a space that attracted college students to the festival, while maintaining Holi’s cultural importance through subtle darty details.
Eckel specifically highlighted the club’s intentional music choices. The APASA board expressed that they were not well-versed in the music typically played at Holi celebrations, so they sought out a DJ who was.
“I would say the DJ was a fundamental aspect,” Eckel said. “We just wanted to bring a lot of happiness and fun for everyone … and also appreciation for the music. It doesn’t have to just be 2000s music all the time in America.”
Balam Pichkari — nicknamed the Holi theme song — blasted through the speakers. The DJ put her own spin on the classic track, mixing in hip-hop and R&B to create a beat that had the colorful crowd nodding and jumping along.
For attendee Manya Ganapathy SC ’29, the main draw of this event was the Bollywood-hip-hop fusion and the youthful atmosphere it inspired.
“Oh shit, I’m missing the best part [of the song],” she said.
The songs drew her attention away from the interview — a testament to the music’s evocative nature.
For those who grew up celebrating Holi, the music brought about an added layer of nostalgia. Many students from Indian backgrounds were able to teeter on the edge of being kids in their backyards, playing with colors to enjoying fun darties with juice popsicles.
Color throwing is a key aspect of Holi and another element of events that, like music and alcohol, attracts college students. Ganapathy reflected on what the act of color throwing meant to her.
“Creative freedom can be expressed when you’re just throwing colors on one another,” Ganapathy said. “[It] feels like I’m not just a student at a college, but more of a community.”
With the club’s main purpose being to offer a joyful space for the entire Claremont community, Eckel acknowledged that a deeper historical context may not always be central during the event itself, but hopes that after people wash the colors out of their clothes, questions will arise and curiosity will strike.
“I don’t think [the origins of Holi] is as [understood as] I would like it to be, but I think part of it is just posting the event, and then people look it up and understand,” Eckel said. “But that gives me an idea to post afterwards, a recap and also some photos, and then I’ll put some fun facts in there to give people a better understanding.”
Holi’s expansion into countries beyond South Asia and college campuses like the 5Cs showcases one of its many strengths: its ability to bring all kinds of people together. This event was less about ritual and more about shared experience – a space where cultural tradition meets campus culture.
“[The atmosphere was] very cheerful,” Peuy said. “Even if you [went] alone, you wouldn’t feel like it’s hard to be there and have fun.”
Facebook Comments