IN PICTURES: Namaste Kingston’s Holi event
Over 1,000 people turned up to Namaste Kingston's Holi event at Hollyfield School in Surbiton on Saturday, 15 March.
This was the second year the not-for-profit organisation ran the event, and it was a great day.
Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates the arrival of spring, love, and new life and Namaste Kingston hosted the event in the form of a Rangostav, an occasion of celebrating life with various art forms and bringing a smile on children's faces, encouraging their creative potential.
Things kicked off at 1pm with guests browsing various stalls including a jewellery stall, HyGiftz, based in Sutton, and food stalls selling traditional Indian food.
The food stalls included a stall selling Peaur, a state of art coffee carving, a stall selling Biryani, MoMos, which was selling various Nepalese Dumplings, and Karma Munch, which was selling various Indian desserts, including high-protein, low fat berry bites, which were absolutely delicious.
Roz.Ana was also there, selling various dishes, including veg biryani, and masala chai.
Fresh Jalebiya was also on offer as well as food from Madras Kitchen and Tentol.
The whole playground had a glorious food smell, but I must say my favourite dish I tried was Bread Pakora (a potato fitter sandwich) from Tentol.
For drinks, all guests were offered a free Tandai, and The Park Brewery pitched up a stall selling alcoholic beverages.
Guests were also welcome to free candyfloss and a to use the 360 photobooth.
From 1.30pm, guests enjoyed some colour play, whereby they would rub coloured paint on each other's faces while saying "Happy Holi" and a live DJ blasted out some Indian tunes.
The colour play was met with dancing and lots of happy faces.
The Mayor of Kingston, Liz Green was also in attendance, along with Deputy Mayor, Elizabeth Park, Kingston Council Leader, Andreas Kirsch, and Cllr Thay Thayalan.
Speaking about the event, Cllr Thayalan, who is from Sri Lanka, told Kingston Nub News: "While Holi is a traditional Indian event, it welcomes the whole community and it's great to see everyone so happy and enjoying themselves.
Cllr Kirsch said: "It's absolutely great, lovely fun, wonderful food, good music, and lovely colours.
"It's a great festival, thanks so much to everyone for being here."
Mayor Liz Green said: "What a wonderful way to celebrate and bring everyone together.
"It's so nice to just have fun together in such a new way to us who are Western, and it's lovely and really enjoyable."
Following the colour play was a live dance performance, dance workshop, Dhol, raffle prize announcements, and a wonderful fireworks display before the event finished at 5pm.
Speaking about the day, a local resident said: "This Holi event is so good with amazing food and it's so fun getting together to celebrate Holi with my friends.
"It's my first Holi event with Namaste Kingston and I've loved every second of it."
Namaste Kingston's is vision is to create a friendly, welcoming space where Indian diaspora can come together to celebrate their culture and support local initiatives.
Through its events and activities, it aims to promote cultural understanding and integration while engaging with local communities.
The organisation is run by volunteers who are passionate about giving back to the community.
Find out how to become a volunteer and how to fundraise for Namaste Kingston here.
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