Barrie Holi Fest an explosion of colour, celebration of culture (20 photos)

The forecast may have been calling for grey skies outside, but inside the big white tent set up in a north Barrie parking lot, it was nothing but an explosion of colour for the eighth annual Holi Fest.

Hosted by the Barrie Indian Association, the event brought out dozens of people to celebrate Holi — also known as The Festival of Colours — an important cultural event that represents unity, equality, and the arrival of spring. 

Tina and Pawan Rampal showed up nice and early with their one-year-old daughter Sia, and told BarrieToday they were looking forward to showing her an important part of her culture. 

“Our daughter is one and we just wanted to come by and show her all of the colour and make her part of the festivities,” said Tina Rampal. “This will be her first time and we wanted her to be part of the local community … and see her culture. This is a good way for her to see all of the colours."

“In India, this is celebrated on a very huge scale,” added Pawan Rampal. “There is a significance of when the season changes and farmers are preparing for a new harvest. At the beginning they light up a fire and play with the colours to celebrate.”

Holi, which actually occurred March 14 — is a major Hindu festival that celebrates love and the arrival of spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna, and signifies the triumph of good over evil.

“After winter, people want to put colours in the air to show excitement. There is a whole story behind it. There was a goddess and she stood up for good over evil. We are marking her story and making sure we are still remembering it,” Tina Rampal. “It’s similar to the Spanish festival Tomatina … they throw tomatoes at each other. We throw colours at each other.”

Midhurst resident Natasha Shakespeare attended the event with her son, telling BarrieToday she was excited to finally get to see what Holi was all about.

“I have always wanted to come but the weekends are always busy. We are just curious and are interested in celebrating many cultures and activities within the community so we made sure to put it in our calendar,” she said. 

Const. Jackie Parkin, the new  safety and well-being officer for Barrie police was on hand, and said events like this are a great way for officers to get to know the community in a different way.

“It’s always important to get to know Barrie police in a different way than when they need us on a call. We are regular people enjoying this celebration of Holi … we are very excited to be invited,” she said.

Previous Holi celebrations have welcomed nearly 400 attendees, noted Ashley Johnson, who was in charge of the BIA’s community relations, in an email to BarrieToday prior to Sunday’s event.