Being organised annually since 2014 by Revel Events – a Christchurch based event management company – this year's Christchurch Holi, the Indian festival of colours, was the biggest and grandest.

Attended by more than 10,000 people, the free event was supported by the Christchurch Multicultural Council (CMC), and the Christchurch City Council. The principal sponsor was Yogiji's Food Mart, which supplied colours for the celebrations.

Hitesh Sharma, co-partner in Revel Events, sharing his joy after a very successful event said, “It started with a simple idea to create an afternoon full of colours for the Indian community living in Christchurch. Now, it has spread to the wider community, which is very pleasantly surprising for us. It shows that Kiwis are ready to embrace other cultures and experience the diversity of the human race. The organisation of this event took almost a year. But with the help of over 50 volunteers, we were able to pull it off successfully.”

Sandeep Khanna, Creative Director and partner at Revel Events added, “Apart from a slew of colours, we had nine cultural performances. There were also colour countdowns, colour blasts, followed by a seven-round matki phod competition, which was won by a Punjabi group this time. Prizes for the colouring competition held across Christchurch schools, for which we got over 102 entries, were also given during the day. This year we made the event more interactive by inviting people on stage to dance on dhol beats, thereby giving the wider community a taste of our rich Indian tradition.”

On the question of holi being part of the city's Race Relations Day celebrations as well, Surinder Tandon, President of CMC, said, "Firstly, both holi and Race Relations Day come during the same month, i.e. March, and secondly but more importantly, they share the common significance of showing respect and equality for diversity in terms of ethnicity, culture and faith. Thus, holi is an ideal festival to commemorate and celebrate the New Zealand Race Relations Day, which falls on March 21, every year."

“Additionally, since the Holi event was on the St Patrick's Day this year, it was a good opportunity to combine and celebrate both the events with the fusion of Indian-Irish music and dance, and green face powder colour and green costumes, thereby valuing and embracing multiculturalism,” he added.

Mr Tandon was referring to the highly-praised fusion dance performance showcased at the event by the dance schools Revathi Performing Arts (Indian Bharatnatayam) and Southern Cross Irish Dance. 

“We have been practising from late January regularly. Getting and mixing songs with the right balance was a real challenge. It was really interesting to see the similarities and differences between two dance styles. With this collaboration being so successful, Shannon – the lead Irish dancer – has decided to try more Indian dancing styles. So there is room for more such fusion dance creations in future too,” said Uma Verma, owner of Revathi Performing Arts.

Talking about what the future holds for holi in the South Island, both Mr Sharma and Mr Khanna, were optimistic and shared their vision. “For Christchurch, we hope to see more and more people becoming the part of this colourful event over the next few years. For Canterbury, we hope many more cities and towns embrace the festival, much like the Garden City has, with open arms. Rangiora in north Canterbury has already taken a lead in this and is holding its version of holi the coming Saturday.” 

ISA - University of Otago Indian Students' Association, too has planned its own holi celebrations further south in Dunedin on March 24.