The New Brunswick Free Public Library's 6th Annual Holi Festival is Saturday

The New Brunswick Free Public Library’s 6th Annual Holi Festival will be held Saturday.

It will include dance performances, Indian food samples and Holi color play - the throwing of colored powder.

“Holi is an exuberant festival of colors celebrated in the month of March,’’ according to a news release on the city’s website. “Originally called Holika, it is meant to be a festival that brings people together. Meeting and greeting friends and relatives and exchanging sweets and gifts are integral parts of Holi.”

The free event will begin with remarks by Upendra J. Chivukula, the commissioner of the state Board of Public Utilities.

According to a news release from the city:

At 1 p.m., festival-goers can have temporary Indian henna tattoos applied to their hands.

From 1:30 pm. to 3:30 p.m., there will be activities for children, and music and dance performances by Rutgers students, Taalim School of Indian Music, and Hindi USA.

From 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., there will be Holi color play - the throwing of colored powder - on the library’s front lawn.

The program is being organized with the Rutgers Indian Graduate Students Association (RIGSA), Hindi USA, Taalim School of Indian Music, and the South Asian Total Health Initiative (SATHI) - a program based out of UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

For more information about the event, contact Kavita Pandey at (732) 745-5108, ext. 20 or kavita@lmxac.org.

Photo: City of New Brunswick website

Photo: Members of the Rutgers Indian Graduate Students Association (RIGSA) pose following color play at a previous Holi Festival at the New Brunswick Free Public Library.