Festivals are very important at Centauri – not only because they allow campers a break from the daily schedule and a chance to have fun and be creative in a whole new way: festivals bond dorms and create community like nothing else. Yesterday was our Indian “Festival of Festivals” and it achieved all these things.
The Festival began at lunchtime when one of our senior counsellors, Sanskruti, came in dressed as a flight attendant, leading the camp from Canada to India. There, in the ‘arrivals hall’ we watched a short movie about Indian festivals and were told we would be visiting different parts of the country to explore some of the wonderful festivals of the Indian calendar. We began with the Kite Festival. A spirit of warmth and friendship is vital to this festival, so each dorm building created something to welcome all other campers into their living space. Some campers created kites, and as the day was windy, they were able to test fly them, before hanging them up for display. Other campers created welcome mandalas on the threshold of their dorms, or made traditional Indian candies in the dining hall. The final group decorated the communal spaces within their buildings, and at the end of an hour, everyone came together to tour the buildings where other campers lived – something they almost never get to do!
After free time, we moved on to our second festival – the Holi festival of colours. Campers went on a hunt all over camp to locate hidden counsellors with packages of traditional fine coloured sand, then we gathered in the field and threw the sand at each other! This was one of the most joyous and fun activities I’ve ever seen at Centauri – every camper laughing, squealing, running around, the air filled with coloured clouds until we were all painted bright colours, head to toe. Check out the photos on our website – it has to be seen to be believed! At the end of this festival, we hosed everyone down. Imagine 160 people running through sprays of water and you have an idea of what that was like!
Then it was time to relax, and change into ‘formal’ clothing for dinner – which was a Bollywood Award Ceremony! Everyone was dressed up, and we lined up on both sides of a red carpet to greet the “Bollywood Stars” as they arrived. During dinner, we sang a song in Hindi, took photos with friends in our ‘photo booth’, watched an Indian dance performance and ate Chicken Tikka Masala (Chana Masala for the vegetarians). We also laughed as the ‘stars’ accepted their awards with ridiculous speeches.
After dinner, we ‘flew’ off again, this time to experience different cultural traditions in India. We learned a traditional stick dance, played Indian sports, tasted Darjeeling tea, wrote our names in Hindi, learned how to drape saris and toured the Taj Mahal, hearing the love story behind its creation. This part of our trip around India concluded with a Bollywood dance party in which campers had a chance to try out traditional dancing and listen to Indian music.
Finally, the party came to an end and a peaceful, pensive mood descended on camp. The evening ended when the lights came up on the stage, and Julie told the epic saga of the Ramayana. The story rose to its climactic scene and there was a collective gasp as the door swung open and the characters rushed onto the stage, to play out the final battle in front of us all.
Our festival concluded with hot chocolate spiced with cardamom, and iced cinnamon buns. Campers shared stories of the memories they had made together, and tomorrow morning there is a sleep-in for everyone, before programs resume, and we all get excited for the final three days of the summer.
Julie Hartley
Director
Centauri Arts Camp