Hare Krishna Temple preparing to welcome thousands for annual color festival

SPANISH FORK — The Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple is said to be the largest celebration of Holi in all of North America. More than 15,000 people are expected to be there Saturday for this unique cultural event.

Featuring vegetarian food, music and Indian culture, it is the throwing of color that is the big attraction.

“Holi is immensely popular in India, where hundreds of millions of people celebrate it,” said Charu Das, organizer of the Festival of Colors, now in its 18th year in Spanish Fork.

“No drugs, no alcohol, we don’t even allow cigarettes and so it is a great way to blow off steam in a really, really purifying and friendly way,” Das added.

 Bio-degradable, colored corn starch is thrown to mark the end of winter and beginning of spring.

The Festival of Colors is based on a widely celebrated holiday in India that is said to date back 5,000 years.

Even with very few Hare Krishna’s in Utah, the event has been embraced by the local community.

“I won’t claim it is the biggest outside of India, but it is definitely the biggest one in North America. The demographics of the LDS Church is certainly a factor. I can’t explain it, but that is obviously an ingredient,” Das said.

It is the Krishna temple’s biggest event of the year that raises funds to operate the temple. You can buy the colors on site for $3 a bag.

The festivities get underway Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m., with the throwing of the colors every hour on the hour.

 RELATED LINK: http://www.festivalofcolorsusa.com/festival-of-colors/festival-colors-spanish-fork-ut/