Just about a year ago a group of friends and I headed south for a weekend of festivals. We spent Saturday in Jinhae for the cherry blossom festival and then headed to Busan for the Holi Hai festival on Sunday.

I remember sitting in a world cultures class in high school learning about this festival in India and immediately adding it to my bucket list. While I still have every intention of making it to India someday to celebrate the festival in its country of origin, seeing the festivities in Busan has been one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had since moving to Korea. Holi Hai is a celebration of spring, friendship, and equality, and those ideas were truly embraced on that Sunday afternoon.

We woke up Sunday morning in Busan which was incredible enough on its own. Busan is a seaside city and always makes me feel like I’m in California rather  Korea. It has a much more laid-back vibe than up north were we live.

This particular weekend, we were lucky enough to be just a five-minute walk from the water. I spent a lazy morning walking around the town exploring alleyways and searching for coffee. Around 11 we made our way to the festival along with hundreds of other people dressed in white. As we walked along the beach we spotted the tents and were greeted by an incredible burst of color as Holi Hai began.

Once everyone in our group picked up their color packets we ventured into the mass of people celebrating. Indian music was blasting, people were dancing, and color was everywhere. There were hundreds of people, some tourists, some fellow expats, and many transplants from India who were more than happy to share their culture with us; pulling anyone into the circle that seemed to be drifting away.

We spent the next few hours dancing, throwing color, and eating some much appreciated Indian food. As the festival ended we attempted to clean ourselves off as best we could, got a quick caffeine fix, and made our way to the subway to travel back to Incheon.