Culture
Color Dance Music Festival Fun for All Ages
By: Sarah Hawley | Athens Messenger staff reporter
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Music, dancing, camping and of course some splashes of color greeted those attending the annual Color Dance Music Festival over the past weekend.
The annual Color Dance Music Festival returned to Poston Lake Music Center this weekend, melding a spring Hindu tradition and a family-friendly festival atmosphere.
Live music played late into the night on Friday and began Saturday morning, going to the early morning hours on Sunday.
What makes the festival so colorful is the throwing of the colors, a colorful powder used in the Hindu Festival of Colors, also known as Holi. Holi traditionally marks the arrival of spring and the passing of winter. During Holi, participants smear the now-well-known powdered colors across their faces and bodies, as well as friends.
For many in attendance it was a family event, camping with their children over the weekend.
For Eden Nebergall, age 4, of Columbus, camping and sleeping in the tent were some of her favorite parts of Color Dance. She was also having fun making new friends, according to her dad, Darth, as they sat on the lawn listening to the music.
Darth said the family enjoyed the set up of the festival and the opportunity to take Eden camping.
Jazzmine Cline and her daughter made their way from Dayton for the weekend’s festivities.
“It’s a lot of fun and I really like that it is kid-friendly,” said Cline of her first time at Color Dance. “I saw about the festival and bought an early bird ticket back in February.”
Cline was excited to hear the bands perform, including some that she had heard before.
While the bands played kids tried to learn the art of juggling, while others enjoyed the giant slip-n-slide set up on the hill opposite the stages and dance area.
The festival’s website described the event as “a fun, peaceful gathering of soulful people for a weekend of celebrations of unity through spirituality.”