Festival of Colors welcomes spring in DuPage

On the first full day of spring, you couldn't help but notice the colors at the DuPage County Fairgrounds - brilliant blues, vibrant greens, perky pinks.

It wasn't the sky, the grass or some early blooms that brightened the fairgrounds Saturday. It was Holi Mela: Festival of Colors.

Traditionally a Hindu festival, Holi has become an Indian cultural event celebrated throughout Southeast Asia to welcome spring. The Federation of Indian Associations, representing about 70 Chicago-area community groups, organized the festival for the local Hindu community as well as for those who wanted to learn about Holi or who just wanted to join the fun.

The day included Indian music, cultural performances and children's activities as well as vendors selling Indian food, jewelry, dresses and other items.

But the highlight was when participants were given packets of colored powder and then they chased each other, tossing colors into the air and covering friends and strangers alike. They patted colors onto each other's clothes and pressed it into one another's hair. Anyone who left with the original colors of their clothes still visible missed out on some of the experience.

While local religious groups have hosted Holi festivals on a smaller scale before, this was the first regional Holi Mela organized by the Federation of Indian Associations to bring together Hindus, families from India and Southeast Asia who celebrate the cultural event, and their friends. The federation already is planning a mid-August celebration of India's Independence Day.