On Saturday, anyone in downtown Baton Rouge likely heard Holi Fest before they saw it — from excited shrieks to energetic Desi EDM hits, the festival made Repentance Park feel less like a public park and more like a meeting ground for people across several cultures, ages and beliefs to celebrate the holiday.

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu festival celebrated primarily in India and Nepal, signifying the end of winter. Bright powders, referred to as gulal or colors, are traditionally thrown at friends, family and passerbys to create a sense of unity in one’s community.

“It’s the arrival of spring over winter; it’s good over evil, light over dark,” Holi Fest organizer Manisha Patel said. “It’s just a day for fresh beginnings.”

Holi is celebrated according to the lunar calendar, typically falling toward the end of February into the middle of March. Though Holi technically started on March 3 this year, Patel planned Baton Rouge’s festivities perfectly in time to avoid the lingering frigid winter temperature and the rainy spring weather.

Some participants attended previous Holi Fests, returning this year with their expectations set high. Baton Rouge native Catyra Duhon is one of many returnees who felt that the festival continues to raise the bar in creating community.

“It’s an experience that is one of one,” Duhon said. “You can expect to have fun amongst people that you have never seen.”

The event is completely free to attend, with the suggestion of wearing a white shirt that would not be missed if the gulal stained it. At the entrance, attendees had the option of buying tickets, each at $1. For two tickets, guests could get one bag of powder, while water and soft drinks were three tickets and beer and seltzers were five to seven tickets, depending on the brand of beverage.

Bay Leaf Indian Cuisine was one of many vendors, accepting tickets, cash or Zelle for bites like samosas, biryani and kati rolls.

Other stands placed around the perimeter of the stage and main throwing area included sponsors such as Raising Cane’s, Patient Plus Urgent Care and Fruge Orthodontics.

With several performers and a live DJ, there was never a lull in the festivities. At the top of every hour, the emcee prompted a joint throw, where attendees crowded the grass to toss colors on the count of three.

Ten-year-old Mann Desai attended the past few Holi Festivals and compared this year’s to previous fests with one word: “funner.”

His brother Meet Desai, 10, agrees.

“There’s more people and better colors,” he said.

The siblings aren’t wrong about the growing attendance at Baton Rouge’s Holi Fest. In 2019, the event’s inaugural year, only around 300 people were in attendance. This year, Patel expected around 1,000.

“We see more and more of the community come out and support,” Patel said. “We’ve gotten bigger stages and bigger cool tracks and things like that. The main growth is with the sponsorships and the community support.”

When launching Holi Fest, Patel created Colors of the World, a non-profit organization to help support both the Holi Festival and their annual charity efforts.

“I just gathered a group of friends, mostly of Indian descent, and created a nonprofit,” Patel said.

This year, Colors of the World is giving back to Redstick C.A.R.E.S, a local organization providing support for behavioral and mental health, specifically for people who are neurodivergent.

“I believe this year to date, we’ve given over $50,000 in five years back to different organizations,” Patel said.

Though the festival now gives back to the larger Baton Rouge community, Patel created Holi Fest for her children.

As the child of two immigrants, Patel has never actually celebrated Holi, having only heard about the celebration second-hand. She ultimately decided to put on the Baton Rouge Holi Fest so her children could feel connected with their heritage.

“We’ve never done it, but we’ve always seen it,” Patel said. “We wanted to create something for our kids too to have to be familiar with being of Indian culture.”

Though it keeps the spirit of Holi, standards around approved powders, controlled crowds and water use deviate from how celebrations typically take form.

“In India, [Holi] is a different thing,” attendee Alpesh Patel said. “Over here, we have to follow some rules and regulations, but it’s still really turning out good. I recommend everybody to come and enjoy the Holi Festival.”

For Rachel Johnson, whose first Holi celebration was last year’s Holi Fest, the celebration acts as a great family activity for her and her children.

“They love all the activities — the face paint and the henna,” Johnson said. “They just enjoy the music and dancing. They love the freedom to throw colors at people. They love it all.”

Johnson feels that Holi Fest provides something special in what said is a politically divided climate.

“Everybody can come together for one event, despite everything that’s going on in the world,” Johnson said. “It’s just our pocket of peace, where it doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, what your background is — everybody’s here together, celebrating and just having a good time.”