University students in Turkey’s east ‘colored’ in festival

Within the scope of the "Fırat Fest," a 20-day spring festival organized by Fırat University, a "Color Festival" was held in the eastern province of Elazığ for the first time.

Some 5,000 university students participated in the "Color Festival," held in a social complex by the Lake Hazar and threw powdered paint at each other.

The Color Festival is inspired by the traditional Hindu festival Holi, which usually takes place in March to mark the coming of spring. On this day, people throw powdered paint, known as "gulal" in Hindi or "rang" in Nepali, at each other.

The first Color Festival in Turkey was conducted on May 18, 2014, in Istanbul's famous Bebek Park.

"We want to increase the social activities for our students," said Mehmet Yılmaz, the vice-chancellor of the university that hosts around 48,000 students.

The Color Fest started with the countdown of a DJ that took the stage for four hours, entertaining students.

"With this festival, we wanted to motivate our students before their exams start," Yılmaz added.

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