Newton Celebrates Holi Festival Of Colors At City Hall

NEWTON, MA – Newton residents, officials, and high school students celebrated Holi, the Indian spring festival of colors on March 11.

The colorful event began inside Newton City Hall, which was decorated with textiles and colorful decorations for Holi.

Members of the Newton Indian community organized the event, which was spearheaded by Rakashi Chand of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and hosted by students from Newton North and Newton South High Schools.

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller was the Guest of Honor at the event and gave a speech to welcome the audience.

Sarina Chand from Newton Newton North High School’s South Asian Student Association spoke about the significance and importance of International Women’s Day and the fact that Holi and International Women's Day both fell on the same day this year, making both events more meaningful.

School Committee Member Rajeev Parlikar then spoke about Holi and how important it is to celebrate these cultural festivals in our city, as well as encouraging people to get involved in City government.

Two dancers from the Vidyanjali School of Dance performed a traditional classical dance followed by five students from Newton North High School doing a high-energy Bollywood Dance.

The crowd was then ushered outside and two eighth graders distributed colorful powder to City residents so that they could enjoy full scale color-play all around City Hall.

The steps to City Hall were awash with pink, green, yellow, purple, blue and red as people laughed, danced, and enjoyed the colorful festival.

In 2024, Holi falls on March 25.