Hundreds in Morrisville celebrate spring in a centuries-old festival from India
A year ago, Abhishek Gupta moved from India to Morrisville with his wife and young son to take a software engineering job.
It was a huge lifestyle change for the family, but they soon felt welcome when they saw the town celebrated Holi, known as the festival of colors in the Hindu tradition, in a major way.
That year hundreds turned out at the town’s Cedar Fork Community Center — as they also did Saturday afternoon — to douse each other with a rainbow of colored powders. Bursts of greens, oranges, reds and yellows popped over the crowd like mini-clouds of merriment.
“We are not feeling like we are away from home,” Gupta said Saturday. “It feels like we are at home.”
It was early in the festival, but Gupta, his wife, Shivangi, and their son Adwit, 3, were already wearing streaks of purple and expecting to be adorned with other colors before they left. The town had provided roughly 4,000 small plastic packets of powder.
Roughly a third of fast-growing Morrisville’s population have ties to India, but Holi is meant to be celebrated by all regardless of religion. Researchers have found evidence that it dates back to at least the 4th century, according to History.com.
It’s celebrated in the spring, and represents light over darkness, good over evil.
Kate Hanson and Will Greczyn of Garner took their two young children, Mina and Bob, to the festival. They looked like they had survived a paint factory explosion.
“They are doing most of the work,” Greczyn said of their two kids.
Hanson said the festival is a great family event.
“First and foremost, it’s fun and it’s a great opportunity for the community to come together, share each others’ cultures and spring and the beautiful weather.”
Two food trucks served Indian cuisine to festival goers while several tents featured Indian themed crafts. DJ Chirag had the crowd bopping to Bollywood music.
The festival began with a performance by students of the Gurukrupa School of Indian Dance in Morrisville. Seven girls, ages 10-13, in brightly colored costumes and jewelry took to the stage in a highly choreographed routine.
Following tradition, the girls danced barefoot, and that became something of a liability when one of them, Aadya Balakrishnan, lost an earring during the performance and stepped on it, slicing her foot.
She finished the routine without letting the pain show.
“She put up a smiling face and completed it,” said dance school founder Kalpa Sai Sankar. “I’m so proud of her.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Hundreds in Morrisville celebrate spring in a centuries-old festival from India."