Holi: 'It's about putting the winter blues behind us'

People across Wales have gathered this weekend to celebrate the Hindu festival of colours, Holi.

The festival, which welcomes in spring and heralds new beginnings, is traditionally celebrated by throwing bright coloured powder over family and friends, dancing and lots of food.

Celebrations have taken place in Wrexham, Swansea and Cardiff over the weekend.

Saumya Gupta, who organised an event in Wrexham, said the festival's vibrance and joyous spirit helped to "bond communities together".

Ms Gupta said Holi's celebration of spring and friendships was something everyone could relate to.

"The colours of the festival symbolise the colours of spring. It's about putting the winter blues behind us so everybody wants to come out of their houses and get ready to enjoy warmer days," she said.

"There's singing, dancing, music, and festive foods for everyone to share and by celebrating together, the relationships between all our communities are strengthened."

The event by the North Wales Ethnic Multicultural Association on Saturday was held at Wrexham Memorial Hall.

Barinder Dhaliwal, who attended the event, moved from India to Wrexham in 2011.

She said celebrations of Hindu festivals Holi and Diwali have become more prominent in Wrexham over the last few years.

Ms Dhaliwal said: "When I first moved here, there wasn't much our own community and people didn't know that we had a community in other parts of Wrexham but events like this have played a huge role in bringing the Indian community together.

"It's also an opportunity for us to showcase our rich culture and heritage to others."

The event's organisers teamed up with the North Wales Interfaith Network, which connects different faith groups within the community.

Its lead coordinator, Gareth Hall, said events like this were an opportunity for people to discover new traditions.

Mr Hall said: "Everyone is so keen to chat to you and to tell you the story behind the music and the worship and to give you that cultural context so that you're not just enjoying what you are experiencing but understanding it as well."

He said that helping ethnic minority communities feel better represented in North Wales was a big part of what the network wanted to do.

"When people talk about the demographics of North Wales, we want them to be aware that we do have a rich diversity of faiths and beliefs and ethnic minority communities. These are our friends and neighbours and it's really important that their stories are elevated."

At Tridev Temple in Swansea, celebrations were also under way on Friday evening.

It has been running celebrations for the Indian community for more than 20 years.

While celebrations started off on a smaller scale, community leaders at the temple say they are proud of how the celebrations have grown.

A trustee at the temple, Dr Roopam Gupta, said: "Initially the celebrations and festivals were on a smaller scale but as the community has grown, they've become more structured and more people are finding this place and are coming along."

Organisers said they were glad to see a budding community of young people joining the festivities.

Shreya Sharma, 17, said she loved how the festival let everyone "release their inner child".

Her sister, Aditi Sharma added: "I just love playing Holi with my friends and family. I could play it every day!"