Holi 2024: Global Festivals That Are Just As Messy and Fun as Holi in India

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Holi 2024: Excitement for Holi is just up the horizon. Holi marks the onset of spring and the initiation of annual festivals lined up in every new year. The festival is filled with colors, flowers, and scrumptious food! Indeed it seems like a one-of-a-kind festival given its way of playing along with its significance in the country. However, lo and behold Holi is not the only festival where people are allowed to make a mess for fun. People worldwide are getting their hands soiled in mud, tomatoes, oranges, flour, and much more to celebrate. So read up to know what other festivals are there in the world that are just as messy and fun as Holi in India. 

La Tomatina, Spain 

‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ gave us a good glimpse of the tomato fight in Spain. La Tomatina is celebrated in the Valencian town of Buñol, in Spain. The balls of tomatoes are flung at each other with unrestrained joy and mischief like the water balloons used at home in India. The festival finds its roots in a mid–20th century fight among two friends who used tomatoes as their artillery. 

Songkran, Thailand 

In the Buddhist calendar, Songkran marks a significant day. It is the day of the traditional Thai new year where water is splashed on people to cleanse them away! Quite literally. Songkran loosely translates to cleansing; the festival is deemed to wash away the previous year from people so they can step in a new year feeling all freshened up. The festival is celebrated from 13th to 15th April.   

Boryeong Mud Festival, South Korea  

A festival invented just to promote cosmetics? Yes, there is one, and it is called Boryeong Mud Festival. Mud, as it seems obvious, is the main character in this festival. The ‘mudfest’ started in 1999, to promote cosmetics made from the mineral-rich mud of Boryeong- a small town on the Western coast of South Korea. So for 2 weeks in July, people from across the country come to the town to indulge in some mud baths.   

Flour War, Greece 

Greece has flour wars people! Glaxidi, a small town in the South Central Part of Greece fights a war with colorful flour. The origin story of the festival is intriguing, enshrining a moment of rebellion from locals in the 19th century when the Ottoman Empire forbade carnivals in the region. So the people took to the street with floury weapons and smiles as a rebellion.

Battle of Oranges, Italy 

Italy is not far behind in indulging in some fruity festivals. In the ‘Battle of Oranges’ divide into teams to battle against one another group with a rather citrus weapon, oranges. The story goes that the festival commemorates the people’s defiance against the tyrant representing the spirit of unity that overcame oppression.

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