Lake Sammamish State Park To Hold Festival Of Colors

From the Folk and Traditional Arts in the Parks Program: The annual celebration runs from 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. March 19 at the kitchen shelter in the state park, 2000 N.W. Sammamish Road.

The ticketed event includes family-friendly play with non-toxic colored powders, a DJ with Bollywood music, vegetarian food, and traditional Indian music and dance.

Holi is celebrated every year with great enthusiasm as a free-for-all carnival of colors, where participants play, chase and spray each other with dry powder and colored water. It is a festival that includes all ages, genders, classes and castes.

Tickets are $15 for children ages 2 to 10, and $20 for adults; group discounts are available. Purchase tickets online. Each ticket includes an Indian vegetarian meal as well as colored powder.

A Discover Pass is not required for this event; March 19 is a state parks free day.

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 is part of a broader series of events celebrating Washington's diverse cultures and presented by the Folk and Traditional Arts in the Parks Program, with funding provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Photo courtesy of the Folk and Traditional Arts in the Parks Program