The annual Asha Stanford Holi festival will be held on Sunday, April 3 at the Stanford Sandhill Fields as a fundraiser for underprivileged people in India and Hindu celebration of the spring season.

The festival is the largest and most established in the Bay Area, with the number of participants increasing every year since its inception 10 years ago. Last year, the event drew a crowd of 5,500 and similar numbers are projected for this year, according to Nikit Abhyankar, coordinator for the Stanford chapter of Asha for Education.

“We charge for entry and give paint and water,” Abhyankar said. “All proceeds go to supporting the project.” 

Abhyankar believes the the festival provides a unique cultural experience and global awareness aspect.

“First and foremost it provides people with a different cultural experience,” Abhyankar said. “Second, it’s a good humanitarian effort and makes people learn about other countries and cultures and issues they might be facing.”

The Asha foundation is a US based, non-profit organization which focuses its efforts on supporting education in India. 

“Our organization, Asha for Education, is a non-profit volunteer group that believes education is empowerment and works towards catalyzing socio-economic change in India through the medium of education,”  Holi project coordinator Arvind Krishna said. The proceeds from the event will go to fund Asha projects which pursue educating the underprivileged in India.

The celebration will begin at 11 a.m. and is scheduled to last around five hours. For more information on Facebook, click here.