(Many of the fairs, festivals, and other wonderful food events that usually fill my calendar each spring have been postponed or cancelled. This post is based on celebrations in previous years.)
Phagwah (Pog-wah), an Indo-Caribbean celebration of spring, is better known as Holi in India and among the country's worldwide Hindu diaspora. It's also known as the festival of colors, which are playfully applied, generally in powdered form, to friend and stranger alike. In the parade photos shown here, anything that might look like a puff of smoke is actually a cloud of powder, which may be directed with intent or simply tossed to the shifting winds. (First-time celebrant? Don't wear your best clothes.)
Near the dispersal point of a recent parade, at a table set back from the roadway, a vegetarian sampler bright with pumpkin was offered to passersby. Outside the park that hosted a post-parade stage show, a handful of food vendors employed an even more vibrant palette in the forms of stiffened pre-bagged cotton candy, commercially branded ices scooped from tubs, and shaved-to-order ices drowned in syrup. The only vendors who caught my fancy, however, were several Guyanese woman, whose table offered slices of mango, assorted fried sweets, and a single savory item that, at least in name, is color-free: black pudding.
Phagwah celebration in Richmond Hill
Parade proceeds west along Liberty Ave. from 133rd St. to 125th St., then north to the festival site at Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Park (also known as Smokey Oval Park), Richmond Hill, Queens
www.PhagwahParade.us
(The 2020 celebration has been postponed)
