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繁 The "YZU Holi Music & Food Festival 2023”was held on March 11th at the lawn beside the seventh building of Yuan Ze University, organized by the Indian Students in association with Global Affairs Office of the university, and Mayur Indian Kitchen. The event was supported by the Department of Youth Affairs, Taoyuan. The event featured traditional Indian cuisine and a blessing ritual in which participants smeared colored powder on each other, allowing international and local students and the public to experience Indian culture. More than 200 participants from different countries attended the event, and Hou Chia-Lin the Director of Taoyuan Department of Youth Affairs, visited the site to interact and exchange ideas with the international students.
The Holi Festival is one of the three major festivals in India. "Holi" means "Festival of Colors". In southern India, locals celebrate the festival on the first day of spring to welcome the warmth and blossoming of the new season and the rebirth of nature after winter. With a history of over a thousand years, the festival's cultural tradition has spread throughout the world as Indians study or emigrate abroad, becoming a widely celebrated event.
One of the event organizer, Giri, Sanju Kumar a Master's student in Industrial Engineering and Management at Yuan Ze University from India, expressed that he came to Taiwan last year to study and wanted to introduce Indian culture, food, and hospitality to local students and the community through the music festival. He also noticed that most Indians tend to congregate in Taipei, so the Indian Student Association hopes that through collaborations like this event with the Department of Youth Affairs, Taoyuan, more Indian parents, and students will know that Taoyuan is a relatively friendly environment for Indian students to study and develop, attracting more Indian students to come to Taoyuan for further studies.
According to Yun-Chia Liang (Bryan) the Chief of Global Affairs at Yuan Ze University, the university has over 600 international students, with Indian students ranking third in number. The university holds cultural exchange activities for students from different countries every month, introducing their cultures and promoting good interaction and communication between international students and local students and the public. Collaborating with the Department of Youth Affairs on events like the music festival can help raise awareness of Indian culture and broaden the international horizons of young people.
Hou Chia-Lin, the Director of the Department of Youth Affairs, Taoyuan City, said that this was the first time she had participated in the Holi Festival of Colors and expressed her strong support for Taoyuan's youth internationalization development and participation in international cultural activities.
Yun-Chia Liang added that the Holi Festival of Colors not only combined exciting performances with a festive atmosphere but also aimed to promote cultural integration between local and foreign students after the pandemic.
