Indian community celebrate cultural festival in Kildare
Event
Members of the Indian community in Ireland celebrated the joyful Holi festival in Naas.
The Bihar Jharkhand Association of Ireland was inaugurated by Indian Ambassador Sandeep Kumar last September and it was formed as a non-political and non-religious association to bring every person from Bihar Jharkhand (regions in India) living in Ireland to come together on one platform to celebrate regional festivals and help the community as a whole.
The Holi festival is a multicultural style event celebrated with enthusiasm in Ireland.
The Naas event took place in the Monread community centre.
Some 130 guests attended representing different races, religions and ethnic groups. This was a regional festival organised in a multicultural way.
There was a DJ playing Bollywood and regional songs, traditional foods, Holi theme performances - dance, singing, a talk about Holi and Antakshari (a game). The participants represented all age groups and it was attended by Naas Mayor Seamie Moore, who spoke about the relationship between India and Ireland and how this can be strengthened. He thanked BJAI committee members for organising this event and helping the community for integration.
Garda inspector Paul Reilly and Gda Shane Smyth along with community garda Gda Cogan also attended.
“Holi is about celebrating happiness with friends and family. People forget their troubles and indulge in this festival to celebrate brotherhood. In other words, we forget our differences and indulge in the festive spirit. Holi is called the festival of colours because people play with colours and apply them to each other’s faces to get coloured in the essence of the festival,” said Abishek Thakur.
The BJAI committee would highly appreciate any help and support in organising future events and can be contacted at [email protected].