Hundreds dressed in white and saturated in a spectrum of colorful powders gathered at Opaline in Northwest Portland Sunday to celebrate Holi Hai.
The dance party, in Old Town Chinatown, was hosted by DJ Prashant and Bollywood Dreams Entertainment.
Before the color throw, when attendees tossed powder into the air, creating a cloud of red, green, yellow, blue and orange, people gathered in the open-air courtyard.
Dominique Hale said she hadn’t heard about the Holi festival before, and came to the Portland party because a cousin invited her. She was familiar with DJ Prashant, however, after he appeared at Secret Roller Disco, a regular skating event held at various local venues.
“He’s a great deejay,” Hale said. “He’s all about spreading love and positivity.”
Jordan Jack stood nearby with friends. The 27-year-old engineer was at the event, he said, “To celebrate Holi, and experience our culture, and our connection to people who come from the same culture.”
Kenalia Cooper and Sean Johansen both work for a tech company. “I’ve seen Holi events on social media,” said Cooper, 26, so she was eager to see for herself with the festival was about. “I’m all about culture and celebrating life and new beginnings,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to learning more about it.”
Poonam Savalia, 29, who recently moved to Portland from Dallas, Texas for a job at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, said this was the first Holi festival she has attended in the U.S.
After the color throw, music played, and a few raindrops fell. But the mood stayed upbeat, as people playfully smeared colored powder on each other’s faces and hair, and left red, yellow and peacock-blue handprints on friends’ shirts.
Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and the divine love of the god and goddess Krishna and Radha.
It also marks the arrival of spring.
More: ‘Full-time party starter’ DJ Prashant was once an Intel engineer
— Kristi Turnquist of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed reporting
Ad Choices