Castaic Lake, a place where people typically go to cool off during hot summer days, was instead filled with multicolored powders in celebration of Holi on Saturday, a Hindu festival of colors that marks the arrival of spring.
As members of the community filled each other’s faces with colorful powders signifying happiness, prosperity and several other positive attributes, the celebration also aimed to raise awareness and funds for the Child Rights and You organization, also known as CRY.
Approximately 250 people of all ages attended the family-friendly event for a day of music, Indian cuisine, fun activities and the color throw, according to Varnica Singh, CRY Los Angeles chapter lead.
“Holi in India is celebrated as the beginning of spring,” she said, with each color representing something different. “India is a diverse country with lot of other religions and cultures, and this one festival binds everybody together, and they come and celebrate. That’s what we wanted to do here as well, because it is just not for India. It’s for anybody that just wants to have fun and celebrate with the community, with their friends and family.”
The festival of colors has been celebrated at Castaic Lake over the past few years, and has allowed local residents who are from India to find a place where they can embrace their culture but also welcome people from other backgrounds to be exposed to something new, Singh said.
“Holi also symbolizes hope and we are raising funds for the less privileged kids through Child Rights and You organization. So in a way, we are celebrating a festival, but at the same time, we are giving back to the community,” she added.
CRY’s mission is to help underprivileged children and is dedicated to ensuring every child’s right to education, health care, and protection from abuse and exploitation.
“This event has become now a movement for not only about the celebration of food and colors and enjoying the Holi festival, but also making sure we have been keeping everyone together as humans, and also celebrating the spirit of being together,” said Andy Das co-lead of CRY L.A.
Local Realtor Moe Verma, one of the event’s title sponsors, not only believes in the mission of supporting efforts focused on bettering the lives of children but also exposing his kids to part of who they are.
“They get to experience the whole culture, the American culture slash Indian culture,” he said. “Santa Clarita is so diverse to begin with, so many different things happening. I have my friends here that come from all different parts of the world, and everybody’s coming together to celebrate one thing and a good cause. It’s wonderful.”
Amie Barker, a local special education teacher and small business owner, works closely with special needs children and teenagers to improve their social skills. To increase that effort, she gathered a few of her students to attend the Holi celebration and observed them creating friendships with others around them.
None of the children were Indian themselves but “that’s what I thought was really cool. There was that willingness to explore another culture. They’re loving it. They’re approaching people they don’t know and saying, ‘Happy Holi,” Barker said.
“If we’re not experiencing other cultures and talking with other people, we just live in a silo by ourselves, and nobody benefits from that,” she added. “Being able to really embrace that, of all ages too, that’s the other thing that’s been cool. I really appreciate community events like this.”
