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Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold's annual Festival of Colors will end with a bang as the viral country singer Oliver Anthony is set to perform at the last rendition of the event.
The festival announced Anthony's performance Thursday afternoon on its Facebook page.
At the festival, every attendee will be covered from head to toe in a rainbow of colors to commemorate the Indian tradition of celebrating the arrival of spring and the passing of winter.
While pinks, purples, reds and more fly across the grounds of New Vrindaban on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., the "Rich Men of North Richmond" singer will take the stage.
The details of when Anthony will perform are still being ironed out by the Palace of Gold's Communications Director, Anuradha Imseng. She explained organizing his performance at the festival felt like "magic unfolding" over the four hours she coordinated with Anthony and his management team.
"I am so excited to have him at the festival because he sings about such real issues," said Imseng. "He's also just such a lovely person with a lovely voice."
She added that Anthony's motivation to perform at the festival stemmed from the singer "wanting to connect more with fans." To execute the singer attending the Festival of Colors amid a busy schedule, Anthony will drive down to the event on Saturday morning for the performance.
"He has become a public figure so quickly, so he now has to travel with so much security," added Imseng. "We still have to work out many details and logistics to ensure the performance goes smoothly."
One of these logistics is making sure that there are enough volunteers to help run the festival, as Imseng said, they already have "a limited volunteer team." To be able to handle the thousands that will pour into the festival, Imseng explained they are managing volunteers so they do not have a bunch of "frustrated people" come Saturday.
With this being the festival's last rendition, Imseng said that one of the leading reasons for the festival's end was "less and less available volunteers." In contrast, she explained the cost of putting on the festival each year kept "growing and growing."
"Putting on the festival takes so much time, labor effort and money," said Imseng. "Every year, the attendance has been decreasing, but the expenses have been rising."
While Imseng is disheartened at the festival's end, she is still excited about this year's festivities. The festival will begin at noon with a color throw every hour, with Imsend adding that they might have a "couple extra color throws" for an "added surprise."
"There's also a countdown to the color throw where everyone tries to capture that National Geographic moment when they fly up into the air," joked Imseng. "Many end up failing."
Apart from getting covered head to toe in color, attendees can also "relax and listen to music," said Imseng. With Anthony headlining the event, other bands set to perform include Jai Krishna and Ananda, Groove and their "resident Bob Dylan," according to Imseng, Devananda.
Southeast Asian rapper and dancer Malini will be the master of ceremonies at the event and will also teach the crowd traditional dances.
"Malini gets everyone excited to learn," said Imseng. "She is just so energetic and fun."
Beyond providing an afternoon filled with colors and entertainment, Imseng explained that the event has a cultural and spiritual significance as well.
"The event's tagline is "culturally many, spiritually one" so at the event, we celebrate all the souls in the world connecting with each other," said Imseng. "We connect who we are to our bigger purpose in life."
Imseng added that her favorite part of the event reflects the tagline, as there is a moment when attendees have been covered in so many "layers and layers of color" that "everyone in the crowd looks the same."
"It becomes difficult to see whether someone is brown or white or black because everyone is just covered in color," explained Imseng. "For a brief moment, all these designations that we use to discriminate against each other are gone."
She said this moment often feels like when a football team scores a goal, and everyone rooting for them "cheers and unites under this common kind of excitement."
"I really feel like the Festival of Colors is a celebration of life and all the colors within it," said Imseng. "After all the colors thrown on them, everyone just becomes this weird shade of brown, and in that one moment, everyone can be seen the same without judgment."