Karthika Nair has lived in the United States her entire life.

Yet, there are very few days, the senior said, she “truly feel[s] at home” in Bloomington Normal.

That feeling of home, that sense of acceptance, Nair said, comes when she can celebrate her culture with the community.

For two days at the onset of spring, that means Holi—the Hindu festival of colors.

It means gathering with family and friends—throwing rang, powder in vivid hues of blue, yellow, pink.

It means music, dance and food.

These celebrations don’t just connect Nair to her South Asian roots; they provide a sense of community.

“Festivals like Holi,” Nair said, “are, at their core, meant to bring people together.”

Sharing “the joy” of Holi with the larger twin cities community was the goal when Nair, as co-president of Community’s South Asian Performing Arts Club, began organizing “Holi Moli.”

More than 250 people attended the free event in downtown Bloomington on April 8, gathering outside the McLean County History Museum.

After Bloomington mayor Mboka Mwilambwe addressed the crowd, kicking off the inaugural event, students, staff and community members celebrated the arrival of spring, throwing colored powders into the air and dancing to Indian and American pop songs.

While the Hindu Temple of Bloomington Normal hosts an annual Holi celebration open to the community in early March, Nair said the Holi Moli event was organized to provide a larger space to celebrate in the “heart of Bloomington.”

The location helped the festival reach a broader, more diverse audience, with many attendees celebrating Holi for the first time.

While senior Tenniyah Hamilton had heard about Holi festivities from her friends, she’d never celebrated Holi, one of the main Hindu festivals, before Holi Moli.

Despite the cultural barrier, Hamilton said, she “felt a big sense of community and unity.

“It didn’t matter if you knew any of the songs. It didn’t matter if you were of a different culture. You [were] still there to bond with everyone and have fun.”

While SAPA’s co-Presidents, Nair and Pritha Chatterjee (’23), will graduate in May, Mayor Mwilambwe is excited to see Holi Moli—and the sense of community it inspires—continue.

“It’s [not] my hope,” Mwilambwe announced during the event’s kickoff, “[but] my expectation that [Holi Moli] will become an annual event that we’ll be [celebrating]…in downtown Bloomington.”

SAPA sponsor Mr. Stefen Robinson, having already received a request to schedule a date for Holi Moli in 2024, shares that expectation.

“We have younger people in the group who intend to come back,” Robinson said, “so I hope that [SAPA and Holi Moli] continue to grow.”

SAPA’s final event of the school year is a traditional Indian dance and music concert planned for Sunday, May 14, at Heartland Community College’s ACEC.

Students interested in joining SAPA can email sponsors Mr. Stefen Robinson and Mr. Ricardo King for more information.