Source: Palo Alto Online
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16313
More than 5,000 people converged on Stanford University's Sand Hill playing field Saturday afternoon to dance, sing and cover one another with huge quantities of colored powder for Holi, a Hindu holiday celebrating the coming of spring.
This incarnation of the ancient festival was also a fundraiser for the Stanford chapter of Asha for Education, a nonprofit group that conducts educational programs in India, according to Stanford student and event organizer Hari Kannan.
Holi has acquired much mythological significance over the years, Kannan said, but the holiday's most recognizable activity involves people plastering friends and strangers alike with "gulal," a brightly colored powder.