Holi celebration returning to Pleasanton this weekend

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A colorful springtime celebration common in India is coming again to the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

The event, set from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday, aims to bring together people of all cultures in the Tri-Valley while also raising funds to support free eye care for those in need in India.

Holi, known as the “Festival of Colors” or the “Festival of Sharing Love,” is typically observed in March across India during which participants throw wet and dry colors on each other to promote friendship, love, the triumph of good over evil and spring’s arrival signaling the end of winter, according to Rajani Suryanarayan, an organizer of the Pleasanton event.

“This festival promotes friendship while offering an occasion to forgive and forget,” Suryanarayan said. “In recent years, the festival has spread outside of India to parts of Europe and North America as a spring celebration of love, frolic and colors.”

The local festival will feature music, dancing, food and the traditional throwing of colored powder.

Like last year’s Holi event at the fairgrounds, this weekend’s celebration will benefit the Sankara Eye Foundation, a Milpitas-based nonprofit that works to provide eye care in India with the goal of eradicating curable blindness in the country by 2020.

Tickets cost $15 apiece, with children 5 years old and younger admitted for free. For more information, visit www.giftofvision.org or email info@giftofvision.org.

Throwing colors on friends and strangers is a symbolic celebratory gesture during Holi festivals. (Photo by Kevin Dankwardt)
Holi is typically observed in March across India during which participants throw wet and dry colors on each other to promote friendship, love, the triumph of good over evil and spring’s arrival signaling the end of winter. This year’s celebration is set for March 11 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. (Photo by Kevin Dankwardt)