Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On March 14, 2003 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the Jewish holiday of Purim and the Hindu festival of Holi will be celebrated next week. Christianity's Holy Hilarity Sunday will follow on April 27, a week after most believers observe Easter... In Purim, which begins at sundown Monday and runs through sundown Tuesday, comedy masks pain. The holiday commemorates how the Jews in ancient Persia survived a genocidal plot by Haman, royal adviser to King Ahasuerus... playfulness is exhibited in the festival Holi (pronounced holy), which will be observed on Tuesday. Part of the celebration, which honors the impish impulses and romantic escapades of Lord Krishna, involves spraying others with colored water or dousing them with colored powders that signify the advent of spring... If there is a special time for joke-telling, it's the week after Easter in some Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. To avoid plummeting emotions after the spiritual high of Easter, they observe the eighth day of Eastertide as Holy Hilarity Sunday."