SA to get colourful with Holi One Colour Festival

12 December 2012 - 15:33 By Times LIVE
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The Holi One Colour Festival.
The Holi One Colour Festival.

Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban are in for a treat as 2013 sees the launch of the inaugural Holi One Colour Festival on South African soil.

The original Holi Festival in India is a huge fun-filled celebration of music and dancing, uniquely characterised by throwing special coloured powder into the air (and at each other) to celebrate devotion to Lord Vishnu and vanquishing the demoness Holika, and in some regions, the love between Lord Krishna and Radha.

The festival concept has quickly gained popularity worldwide with festivals springing up in Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Hannover, the USA and Singapore.

Thousands of enthusiasts in each city will come together in a thrilling atmosphere of electronic music, performance art and visual stimulation.

Dressed in white, revellers at the open-air festival will soon be covered in brilliant hues as the air is filled with the clouds of brightly coloured powder at a countdown on the hour, every hour from 2pm.  

Seed Experiences – the company behind Rocking the Daisies Music and Lifestyle Festival – has been appointed as the project management company behind the South African Holi One Colour Festival series.

All three events promise to be an inspiring initiative, centred around the theme - ‘We are All One’.

“The global Holi One festival is not directly linked to the original Holi Festival, nor with it’s religious aspects, but is definitely inspired by it and shares the same values – a day steeped in the old Indian tradition of bringing people together in love and peace, a tradition that transcends backgrounds and cultures” comments Brian Little, managing director of Seed Experiences.

“We will carry this ethos throughout all of our planning, promoting a spirit of camaraderie and togetherness in the ‘We Are All One’ philosophy. Something that we feel is very relevant and necessary in the South African context”, he says.

The organisers say the festival is in no way meant to trivialise the religious aspect of the festival, but rather open the celebration side of it to people of all cultures.

Cape Town will be the first city to host the Holi One Colour Festival.

The coloured powders are safe, water soluble, completely non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2013
Venue: Grand Parade, Cape Town
Time: 12pm – 10pm
Tickets: General admission R190 | General Admission including powder (five colours): R290 from Webtickets
Powder will also be sold separately at the  event

Early Bird Special (limited): R170 only available at the following outlets in Cape Town:
1. Gypsy stores throughout the Cape Peninsula:
Gypsy Kalk Bay – Kalk Bay Main Road, 021 7886802
Gypsy Long Street – 285A Long Street, 021 4242994
Gypsy Stellenbosch – 147 Dorp Street, 021 8867157
Gypsy/Zebra Durbanville – Corner of Wellington Road & Chenoweth Street, 021 976 604

2. The Old Biscuit Mill Neighbourhood Goods Market (Saturdays only), 373 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town

3. TAKE&BAKE, 16 Main Road, SeaPoint, 021 8014444

Durban: venue and date TBC
Johannesburg: venue and date TBC

Follow Holli One SA on Twitter for more information.

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