OLYMPIA – Feb. 28, 2017 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Folk and Traditional Arts Program invites the public to celebrate spring at the 2017 Holi Celebration—the Festival of Colors—at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah.
The annual celebration runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at Lake Sammamish State Park, 2000 NW Sammamish Rd., Issaquah. (Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/usC5iUo4rvn ) The ticketed event will include family-friendly play with colored powders, a disc jockey with Bollywood music, vegetarian food and traditional Indian music and dance.
Tickets for the Holi Festival, which takes place at the park’s kitchen shelter, are $15 for children ages 2 to10, and $20 for adults. Group discounts are available. Tickets may be purchased in advance at https://eastsideholi2017.eventbrite.com or in person at Swagath Grocery, 14504 NE 20th St, Bellevue, or Namasthe Indian Restaurant, 22910 Bothell Everett Hwy, Bothell. Each ticket includes an Indian vegetarian meal as well as colored powder.
A Discover Pass will not be required for entrance to Lake Sammamish and other state parks on March 19, one of 12 free days offered by State Parks during the year.
Holi is known as the Festival of Colors or the Festival of Love. The Hindu celebration has become popular with non-Hindus in many parts of South Asia, and it has been enthusiastically adopted in the United States.
Each year, Holi is celebrated with great enthusiasm as a free-for-all carnival of colors, where participants of all ages, genders, classes and castes play, chase and spray each other with nontoxic colored dry powders and water.
Eastside Friends & Family, founded by Menka Soni and Ashish Soni, has been celebrating Holi at Lake Sammamish State Park since 2012. This year’s event will benefit The Sophia Way, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping end homelessness for single women in King County. The festival aims to promote culture and bring the community together to welcome spring.
About the Folk and Traditional Arts in the Parks Program
The Holi Celebration is part of a broader series of events celebrating Washington’s diverse cultures presented by the Folk and Traditional Arts in the Parks Program, with funding provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information about the Folks and Traditional Arts in the Parks program, including upcoming events, visit: http://parks.state.wa.us/folkarts or contact Debbie Fant, Program Coordinator, at Deborah.Fant@parks.wa.gov or (360) 902-8635.
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About Washington State Parks
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission manages more than 100 state parks and properties totaling approximately 120,000 acres. The Commission provides a variety of recreation opportunities for citizens and provides stewardship protection for a diverse array of natural, cultural and historic resources. State Parks’ statewide programs include long-distance trails, boating safety and winter recreation.
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Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
1111 Israel Road S.W.
P.O. Box 42650
Olympia, WA 98504-2650
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