How To Take Your Little Kids To The Utah Color Festival
The Holi Festival near Spanish Fork, Utah was wonderful!
The vibrant colors of the holi powder contrasted beautifully with the elegant, white Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple.
The music and Bollywood style dancing was so fun. The vegetarian Indian food we shared was delicious and our kids liked seeing the animals, especially the peacocks.
We had so much fun taking our kids to this family friendly event and I'm here to tell you how to have the best possible experience with your kids too.
The vibrant colors of the holi powder contrasted beautifully with the elegant, white Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple.
The music and Bollywood style dancing was so fun. The vegetarian Indian food we shared was delicious and our kids liked seeing the animals, especially the peacocks.
We had so much fun taking our kids to this family friendly event and I'm here to tell you how to have the best possible experience with your kids too.
BUY TICKETS AHEAD OF TIME
Kids under 12 get in free!We bought a two person ticket for us adults that included 10 bags of color for $38.
I had no idea how big those 10 bags of color would be. I needlessly purchased 10 extra bags for $22.80, but the colored powder included in the price of our tickets was more than enough to cover the four of us with color head to toe. And we had enough to throw some in the air too.
GET A GREAT VIEW OF THE COLOR TOSS
If you have tiny kids, you may want to avoid the crowd during the hourly color toss.
We arrived just before 11:00 and stood to the side to watch the first holi powder toss. This helped our kids see what we were about to do.
Some people held their kids on their shoulders during the color throw. That looked fun, but I had a feeling my kids (ages 4 and 2) wouldn't go for it.
It might have been fun if we had brought goggles and face masks for our kids. I meant to bring them, but forgot.
It's cool to see the colors in the air from a little distance anyway. And after that first color toss, we had plenty of fun dancing and throwing colored powder directly at each other.
The colors all get mixed into brown when thrown in the air anyway, and smearing the powder on each other's skin is fun too.
Later, we went up the temple steps just before noon and watched the color toss from up there, and it looked really cool.
I've been in a crowd throwing holi powder into the air all at once. It's a lot of fun but it's not the same as seeing the rainbow of separate colors from above.
If you have tiny kids, you may want to avoid the crowd during the hourly color toss.
We arrived just before 11:00 and stood to the side to watch the first holi powder toss. This helped our kids see what we were about to do.
Some people held their kids on their shoulders during the color throw. That looked fun, but I had a feeling my kids (ages 4 and 2) wouldn't go for it.
It might have been fun if we had brought goggles and face masks for our kids. I meant to bring them, but forgot.
It's cool to see the colors in the air from a little distance anyway. And after that first color toss, we had plenty of fun dancing and throwing colored powder directly at each other.
The colors all get mixed into brown when thrown in the air anyway, and smearing the powder on each other's skin is fun too.
Later, we went up the temple steps just before noon and watched the color toss from up there, and it looked really cool.
I've been in a crowd throwing holi powder into the air all at once. It's a lot of fun but it's not the same as seeing the rainbow of separate colors from above.
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| The color toss from the top of the Krishna Temple steps |
BRING GOGGLES AND FACE MASKS
We smeared the powder on each other's faces, so no one got it in their eyes. Mostly.
There was one moment when my son said he wanted to throw red at his sister and I specifically said, "Okay, throw it at her tummy, not her eyes." He threw it right in her face but, miraculously, she wasn't too bothered by it.
You may want to bring goggles or sunglasses anyway, especially if you plan to be in the crowd for the hourly color throw.
We saw people wearing white bandanas over their mouths, as well, to avoid inhaling the powder. A kid size face mask would likely work as well, and they are easier to secure onto a little face than a bandana.
WHAT TO WEAR
This particular Holi Festival is held on the last weekend in March which means the weather is usually mild and enables you to wear layers.
Once we got out of the car, we put light colored sweatpants and hoodies on our little kids. These were secondhand clothes that we didn't care about too much.
Wear as much white as possible or, at least, light grey so the colors will show well, but don't expect to to keep those clothes afterwards.
It is possible to get the powder out of your clothes, but you will have to soak and wash them over and over.
Even after all the washing, our white and light grey hoodies and sweats were all stained a very pale pink.
We will just wear them againn when we use those 10 extra bags of color that I bought. And maybe these will be our paint fight clothes too.
Just don't wear your favorite white dress and expect the colors to come out.
Having the layers kept us all warm and the colors showed up nicely on our clothes. The hoods kept the powder mostly out of our kids' hair and clean up was fairly easy.
We smeared the powder on each other's faces, so no one got it in their eyes. Mostly.
There was one moment when my son said he wanted to throw red at his sister and I specifically said, "Okay, throw it at her tummy, not her eyes." He threw it right in her face but, miraculously, she wasn't too bothered by it.
You may want to bring goggles or sunglasses anyway, especially if you plan to be in the crowd for the hourly color throw.
We saw people wearing white bandanas over their mouths, as well, to avoid inhaling the powder. A kid size face mask would likely work as well, and they are easier to secure onto a little face than a bandana.
WHAT TO WEAR
This particular Holi Festival is held on the last weekend in March which means the weather is usually mild and enables you to wear layers.
Once we got out of the car, we put light colored sweatpants and hoodies on our little kids. These were secondhand clothes that we didn't care about too much.
Wear as much white as possible or, at least, light grey so the colors will show well, but don't expect to to keep those clothes afterwards.
It is possible to get the powder out of your clothes, but you will have to soak and wash them over and over.
Even after all the washing, our white and light grey hoodies and sweats were all stained a very pale pink.
We will just wear them againn when we use those 10 extra bags of color that I bought. And maybe these will be our paint fight clothes too.
Just don't wear your favorite white dress and expect the colors to come out.
Having the layers kept us all warm and the colors showed up nicely on our clothes. The hoods kept the powder mostly out of our kids' hair and clean up was fairly easy.
HOW TO CLEAN UP
When we left the festival, we just took off the top layer of clothes and our socks, shook them out forever long, and stashed them in a garbage bag right before getting in the car.
There was hardly any colored powder on our clothes underneath: just a little on the collars of our T- shirts that were slightly exposed.
We shook and brushed the powder out of our hair. And I forgot to do this, but I meant to wipe our faces off with baby wipes too.
If you have any old towels, you may want to cover your seats with them just in case. This is basically impossible when strapping toddlers into carseats, hence the extra layer of clothes.
When we got home, I took the bag of clothes straight to the wash before taking a shower.
There was hardly any colored powder on our clothes underneath: just a little on the collars of our T- shirts that were slightly exposed.
We shook and brushed the powder out of our hair. And I forgot to do this, but I meant to wipe our faces off with baby wipes too.
If you have any old towels, you may want to cover your seats with them just in case. This is basically impossible when strapping toddlers into carseats, hence the extra layer of clothes.
When we got home, I took the bag of clothes straight to the wash before taking a shower.
OTHER NEED TO KNOW DETAILS
• Holi Festival is held on Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM on the last weekend in March.
• The first color toss starts at 11:00 AM
• No outside holi powder is allowed onto the temple grounds.
• Also, don't bring any weapons, alcohol, or meat with you or it will be confiscated.
• Traditional holi powder is made with ground spices and flowers (sounds lovely) but the holi powder at most festivals is made with cornstarch and dyes. It's organic and safe to use on skin and it won't kill grass.
• If you do run out of powder, you can buy more at a kiosk on the east side of the stage, but it costs a little more than buying it ahead of time online.
• Aside from throwing powder, there are llamas and peacocks to see, as well as a small playground and a couple of bouncy houses located around the temple grounds.
• There are dance performances, and live musicians constantly.
• Food trucks serve vegetarian lunches on the west side of the Krishna Temple while dance instruction is happening on the east side.
• There are picnic tables near the playground that are less crowded than the tables near the food trucks.
• There's a great vibe all through the festival. Strangers passing you will kindly toss a little color on your clothes and there are smiles all around.
• Patrons are not allowed into the temple during the festival but it's a cool place to tour and learn about at other times of the year.
• If you miss the Spanish Fork festival held in March, there is an annual color festival hosted by the Salt Lake City Krishna Temple on the second weekend in June. It's a smaller event, so keep your expectations low or wait until March the following year.
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| The lovely colors at the start of the holi color throw |
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| And two seconds later, the colors begin to mix into a light brown. |
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