Sunday 20th March 2011 was the day of the Hundu festival Holi (Festival of Colours to you and I) in which Hindus celebrate the end of the Winter Season with song, dance and of course colour.

The celebration was extended to Belfast and opened for the public so that everyone could experience this cultural festival so I decided to head down and check it out.

I could talk all day about the usual trappings of these events. The traditional dancing on stage, the stalls, the food, the atmosphere but the most important part of the event was a ceremony that takes place all over the world in celebration of the end of Winter and beginning of Spring as well as the triumph of Good versus Evil. The traditional throwing and smearing of coloured powder.

Now it took a bit of persuasion before I decided to take part but I was glad I did. The fun and freedom of hundreds of people of different persuasions standing in a ring throwing brightly coloured powder at each other, smearing it on their faces and just enjoying themselves. It was not only a fantastic sight to behold but a great spectacle of celebration to be a part of.

It’s always interesting to gain insight into the culture of other nations on this great planet of ours. All the better to have a ball at the same time. Here are a few photos of the mayhem:

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I know we like to celebrate by throwing things at each other too but coloured powder doesn’t do the same damage as rocks and petrol bombs. Maybe we could learn a thing or two.