Holi Festival of Colors - everything is so beautifully colorful here!

It's getting colorful again in Switzerland this summer. The Holi Festival of Colors will soon be celebrated for the fifth time in Hüntwangen, and the colourful event will come to Nidau in August.

House music meets color spectacle and provides pure adrenaline.

At first glance, it appears to be a normal festival: DJs play house music on the stage in front of the audience. On closer inspection, however, you can see the little bags of paint that each guest is holding in their hand. Suddenly, a big countdown starts on stage and the music gets louder. At the last second, the screaming crowd disappears in a cloud of color. The Holi Festival of Colors is a festival of colors that is spread around the globe and has its roots in Hindu tradition. The traditional festival is not a trendy invention, but can be traced back to the fourth century, when people celebrated the triumph of good over evil. The colored powder blurs differences between genders, age groups, castes, origins and religions. In contrast to the modern festival, however, the Hindu festival can last up to ten days, depending on the region.

The new music festival Holi Festival of Colours first came into being in 2011, when 28-year-old Jasper Hellmann traveled back to Germany inspired by a Holi experience in India and convinced his friends Maxim Derenko and Max Riedel to join him in organizing the first Holi Festival in Europe.

"We loved the vibe and atmosphere of the festival," says Derenko, co-founder of the festival. "We looked at the concept and adopted the core elements from the original festival." Within just one year, the team of three organized the first Holi event in Berlin. In 2013, one of their festivals in the UK had already attracted over 300,000 visitors. They founded their company, Holi Concept GmbH, and now organize the festival in 30 cities and around 17 countries.

Hourly color countdowns keep visitors entertained into the night.

"This year it will be a colorful and mysterious day with many show elements. We are working on making the festival more innovative every year," promises Derenko. There is a new theme every year. This year's theme is "Crazy Wonderland".

"The aim is for everyone in the audience to really escape from everyday life and immerse themselves in a colorful, mysterious and magical world."

Admission is from 11 am, and the color countdowns take place every hour from 2 pm and are announced by a presenter. Seven DJs will perform throughout the day. The last color throw is scheduled for 10.15 pm. The paint bags can be purchased throughout the day or ordered in advance.

The music line-ups for the festivals in Hüntwangen and Bern have already been confirmed. Among others, Animal Trainer and Mannequine will be performing in the amphitheater. "Our music fits the Holi Festival of Colors like a glove", DJs Ruben and Claudio, creators of Mannequine, are convinced. "We'll leave it open as to whether we'll be colorful ourselves!"

Great emphasis is placed on the surprise factor, but Derenko can already guarantee one thing: "This year will be more colorful than ever before."

HOLI FESTIVAL OF COLORS
01.07.17, Amphitheater Hüntwangen
05.08.17, lido Biel Nidau
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