Holi, and the day India throws colour at itself

On the morning of Holi, the streets of a north Indian town look as if a paint factory has exploded. People of every age, many in white clothes chosen to be ruined, chase each other with handfuls of bright powder, pink, green, yellow, purple and blue, and with water pistols, buckets and balloons. Faces are smeared, hair dyed, shirts soaked. Strangers wish each other "Happy Holi" and add another streak of colour to a cheek. By lunchtime most of the town is the same shade of damp magenta, and by the afternoon it has gone home to wash and sleep.

It is an exuberant festival, and an easy one for a visitor to join, as long as you do not mind what happens to your clothes.

When it falls

Holi follows the Hindu lunar calendar, and it comes at the full moon of the month of Phalguna, which falls in February or March. In 2027 the bonfire night, Holika Dahan, is on Sunday 21 March, and the day of colour on Monday 22 March. Times and dates can vary slightly from one region to another, so check locally.

It is a festival of the end of winter and the coming of spring, when the wheat is ripening in the fields of the north, and of the triumph of good over evil. Its stories are many. The best known is that of Prahlad, a young devotee of the god Vishnu, whose demon-king father tried to have him killed; the king's sister, Holika, who was thought to be immune to fire, carried the boy into a bonfire, but it was she who burned and he who walked out unharmed. That is the bonfire of the first night. The colours of the second day are linked to Krishna, who as a young man in the country around Mathura is said to have played with colours with Radha and the cowherd girls.

Two days

On the evening of Holika Dahan, bonfires are lit in the squares and at crossroads, built up over the preceding days with wood and dried cow dung. People gather round them, walk round them, make offerings and sing, and the fires burn late into the night.

The next morning is the day of colour, Rangwali Holi or Dhulandi. It starts early and gets wilder as the morning goes on, with music, drums and, in many places, bhang, a drink made from cannabis that is traditionally associated with the day and is stronger than it tastes. By early afternoon the play has usually stopped, the streets go quiet, and people go home to scrub, change and visit family with sweets. Gujiya, little fried pastries stuffed with sweetened milk solids and nuts, are the classic Holi sweet.

Where it is celebrated hardest

Holi is above all a festival of northern India. Its spiritual heart is Braj, the country of Krishna around Mathura and Vrindavan, south of Delhi, where the festivities run on for days and include the famous Lathmar Holi of Barsana, in which the women of the village drive off the men of the neighbouring village with sticks. The temples of Vrindavan hold their own celebrations, with colour and flower petals thrown over the crowds. These are packed, intense and not for the faint-hearted.

In the cities of Rajasthan and the Ganges plain, the celebrations are more like a giant street party. In the south of India, Holi is a quieter affair.

Joining in

A few practical things help. Wear old clothes you are happy to throw away, and assume your phone, camera and bag will be coated too, so wrap them up. Oil your skin and hair beforehand, which makes the colour easier to wash off, and wear sunglasses to protect your eyes. Choose a place with friends or your group, such as a hotel courtyard or a guided street celebration, rather than wandering alone into the thick of it: the crowds can become rowdy, and women in particular may find the busiest streets uncomfortable. And keep the afternoon free. Nothing much else happens on Holi, and shops and sights may be closed.

Explore's thirteen-night Highlights of Northern India departs in January, February, March, October, November and December. It goes from New Delhi and Old Delhi to Jaipur and the Amber Fort, Pushkar, Ranthambore National Park, the Chambal Valley and Bateshwar, then Fatehpur Sikri and Agra, before ending at Varanasi and Sarnath.

Explore's sixteen-night Delhi to Kathmandu departs in February, March and November, and goes from New Delhi to Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Agra, Allahabad and Varanasi, then crosses into Nepal by way of Sonauli to Lumbini, Chitwan, Pokhara and Kathmandu.

For families, Explore's nine-night Family India Golden Triangle Adventure has departures in March among other months, with New Delhi, Old Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore National Park, Pachewar, Jaipur and Samode Palace in its list.

None of these is built around Holi, so if you want to be in India for it, check the departure dates against 21 and 22 March 2027, and ask whether the group will be somewhere that celebrates. It is worth the effort. There is no other day quite like it.