We know it as Holi One, but it’s been officially renamed the We are One Colour Festival. I must confess, I had never been to a colour festival before We Are One this past Saturday. It looked like a lot of fun in the promotional pictures; it looked absolutely mental in the videos; and I was keen to take the opportunity I’d been given to enjoy the We Are One festival thanks to our good friends at One Eyed Jack.
I arrived at Emmarentia Dam and made the lengthy walk to where the action was happening. Portable loos, long queues, beer served in cups, delicious (albeit expensive!) food fragrances floating in the air- ah, this was festival atmosphere at its best.
The crowd played its part, too. From the moment we reached the entrance it was impossible to ignore the excitement that filled the air and the energy that possessed the festival-goers. Everybody was dressed in white (Because that’s what we do, apparently) and everybody was walking around with bags of colour, ready to throw them at each other when the occasion arrived (Although some, simply could not wait!)
We were entertained by the roster of DJs in between the colour festivities, and save for some repetitiveness in the song selection, the DJs did a good job of maintaining the good mood.
Before long, a clock was shown on the jumbo-trons and the first hourly countdown to powderly, colourful mayhem began. I was excited, this is what I had been waiting for all my life (Not really, but you get the gist)
3, 2, 1- And there it was. Millions of coloured particles flying in the air, landing on anything they could; whether it was your clothes, your mouth or your eyes. I must say that I didn’t enjoy the powder in my face, but that may have more to do with me being an irritable boring person than with the powder.
It was absolute bliss though, jumping up and down to the sounds of speaker-throbbing music while showering ourselves in bright colours. How could you not enjoy this?
After taking a few selfies with the missus, I made my way back to the powder -free zone and waited for the next countdown. If I have one criticism of the festival, it’s that the bursts of colour were too short and too far in between for my liking. I’d rather have spent the day saving up my colour and run around for a good 30 minutes getting absolutely drenched in the powder, than have several 5 minute bursts separated by an hour. But that’s just me, each to their own.
The day wound down and Oskido hit the stage; my favourite DJ on the day. His set was exciting and was the perfect prelude to headlining DJ, Felix da Housecat’s set.
The We Are One Colour Festival was an enjoyable experience and a great success at many quarters. I can’t say that I’ve fallen in love with colour festivals; but I’ve seen enough to ensure that I’ll be back next year!
