This year, Guilford College’s Serendipity is celebrating its 42nd year on campus with the theme G-Chella. The week-long series of events will cover topics ranging from art, music, comedy, fashion and student performances. One annual event that students have the opportunity to attend is ColorFest.

ColorFest, held at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, March 29 by Guilford’s lake, is a celebration of Holi. Originating in India, Holi is a festival celebrating lova and color, and has been celebrated during Serendipity via ColorFest since 2015.

At ColorFest, students were supplied with packets of colored powder to use during the event. This powder is thrown at other students, in the air or at oneself. While attending ColorFest, it is common for students to wear white clothing in order to see the colors more prominently.

This year saw a slight decrease in the number of attendees at ColorFest.

“I couldn’t go to ColorFest,” said first-year Connor Button. “It wasn’t any fault of the people who planned it, I was just really busy that day. I would love to go in the future though.”

Some students, such as first-year Benna Carpenter, cite the workload of the end of the semester as being a dissuasion from attending ColorFest.

“I didn’t go to ColorFest this year, just because I was so busy that I don’t think I would have been able to really enjoy it,” Carpenter said. “I would just feel so overwhelmed with everything that I had to do and I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy everything. Overall I think if it was encouraged more then I would go.”

Despite the smaller turnout this year, students still enjoyed their afternoon at Colorfest while also learning about Holi. At the beginning of Colorfest, attendees held a moment of silence while facts about Holi Fest were read aloud. In addition, Holi Fest facts were also read periodically throughout the event.

“It was fun,” said senior Gillian Sherman. “There weren’t as many people as in past years, but I still enjoyed it. I would go next year, but I’m a senior so I won’t be here.”

Throughout the event, pop music was played over outdoor speakers and many students danced in between throwing colors. As the event drew to a close, attendees also gathered for a circle of soccer. Despite having less attendance than some past years, ColorFest gave students an afternoon of fun before the G-Chella concert on Saturday.”