Holi festival marks the beginning of the spring season and signifies good triumphing over evil. Traditionally, it’s a 2 day festival i.e. On the first night, people light bonfires and throw grains, corn, chickpeas and coconut onto them & the next day, people of all ages go into the street for fun, excitement and celebrate color throwing!
This year Holi – the Festival of Colours – was on Monday, March 25 but celebrations commenced in advance!
The event in Dartford is the largest of its kind in Kent, with over 3000 people in attendance. Supported by Dartford Borough Council, Arts Council England, & Cohesionplus working alongside local community members, the event brought bigger smiles & laughter with gracious presence of following dignitaries:
- Mr. Gareth Johnson, Member of Parliament UK
- Cllr.Rosanna Currans – Mayor Dartford Borough Council
- Cllr. Jeremy Kite MBE – Leader Dartford Borough Council
- Cllr. Chris Shippam – Deputy Leader Dartford Borough Council
- Cllr. Richard Wells
- Gurvinder Sandher MBE – Deputy Lieutenant Kent
- Cllr. Avtar Sandhu MBE
- Cllr. Thomas Oliver and other elected councillors
All the dignitaries endorsed the Iconic event & were thoroughly immersed in the festival celebrations, shared best wishes & joined the fun of rainbow colors sprinkling on each other.
People were busy enjoying the event, taking videos, dancing to the DJ music, Indian street food, capturing photos & sharing updates on social media. Children and Women dance performances were one of the main highlights of the event. All the performers were awarded for their energetic artistic contributions on the stage by the Councillors besides the Unstoppable cheering from the crowds.
The free family event (24 Mar 2024, Sunday) hosted by volunteers of the local community & supported Dartford borough council team proved to be a mega hit in Dartford Central Park. This is mainly to draw in the public, diverse communities together & share positive spirit, as notified by community volunteer – Krishna Pavan Challa.
Image Credit – Digpal Shristy Singh