Holi brings color and culture to the library

The courtyard outside the Socorro Public Library burst into color last week as families, students and community members gathered to celebrate Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors.

Participants tossed bright powders into the air, laughed with friends and welcomed the arrival of spring during the March 4 event. The celebration has become an annual tradition at the library, bringing a global cultural festival to the heart of Socorro.

Librarian Chelsea Jones — who helps organize the program — said the idea began several years ago while researching cultural traditions that celebrate spring around the world.

“It’s been about eight years, I think,” she said. “We first heard about the throwing of the colors, and then we started researching it and learning more about the festival.”

Since then, the library has included Holi as part of its cultural heritage programming, introducing community members to traditions beyond the region.

“Anything we can do to introduce people to different topics is important,” she said. “Then they can come into the library, check out books and learn more. Part of this holiday is also about unity and bringing people together.”

Holi is widely celebrated across India and among Hindu communities around the world. The festival typically lasts two days and is tied to the lunar calendar. The first day often includes a ceremonial bonfire symbolizing the burning away of negativity. The second day is the colorful celebration most people recognize — when participants throw powdered pigments and sometimes water on one another.

“It’s about getting rid of the old and bringing in the positive energy, the spring and the good vibes,” Jones said.

To make the event accessible and family-friendly, the library adds its own creative touches. This year, participants painted colorful rocks and got henna “tattoos” alongside the powder-throwing celebration.

“We always try to have a craft component,” Jones said. “The rocks were perfect because they’re simple and colorful.”

The event also reflects Socorro’s evolving cultural landscape, shaped in part by the international student community at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

Among the participants was Mithi Mathur, a doctoral student in chemistry who grew up in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan.

For Mathur, Holi represents joy, renewal and connection.

“Holi is the Festival of Colors, and we celebrate it as a festival of love, sharing and joy,” she said. “It’s the season of new beginnings. On this day we say goodbye to all the bad energy and celebrate friendship and the colors in our lives.”

In India, Holi celebrations often include music, dancing and water along with brightly colored powders known as gulal.

“You’ll see people everywhere with colors on their faces,” Mathur said. “Red, green, golden — colors everywhere. There’s music and dancing, and everyone is celebrating together.”

Holi is also associated with a story of a prince whose devotion to the Hindu god Vishnu protected him from a plot intended to harm him, symbolizing the triumph of faith and goodness over evil.

“That’s why we say it represents the victory of good,” Mathur explained.

Although the Socorro celebration is smaller than the massive gatherings common in India, Mathur, who came with several classmates, said seeing the festival recognized locally is meaningful.

“We were really excited to see it here,” she said. “It’s a different kind of celebration, but I like how the community has included the colors and even things like henna, which is also part of many festivals.”

Jones said that response from the community has been enthusiastic over the years.

“Everybody who participates loves it,” she said. “Who doesn’t want to throw colors outside in the sunshine and have fun?”

As laughter and bright powder filled the air, the celebration reflected Holi’s central message: welcoming spring, celebrating life and bringing people together across cultures.

And for the Socorro Public Library, that spirit of connection is exactly the point.

“It’s about learning from each other,” Jones said. “And celebrating together.”