When is Holi in 2016?

The date of Holi in 2016 will begin on Wedneday, March 23rd and will continue for 2 days until Thursday, March 24th.

What is Holi?

The 2016 Holi Festival is a Hindu springtime celebration that falls in March or late February on the last full moon day of the winter season. Like many early spring festivals held near the vernal equinox, this celebration marks the end of winter and a time to start afresh. Relationships are repaired and bonds are strengthened.

Also called the Festival of Love and the Festival of Colors, this event is best known for the happy tradition of participants showering and painting one another with brightly colored powder dyes. The evening before 2016 Holi, the event kicks off with a bonfire to banish evil spirits (holika). This Holi eve gathering is referred to as Holika Dahan.

Holi is celebrated throughout India and has become popular in Asia and other parts of the world as well. In the United States, large crowds gather in locations as diverse as Brooklyn, New York and Spanish Fork, Utah to celebrate the day with singing, dancing, and colors.