By:- Manoj Soni, CEO of YoloBus and EasyGreenMobility,
The Festival of Holi has moved beyond Colour; with industry trends indicating a 30–40% spike in intercity travel bookings during the holiday period. Many festivals now include custom clothing, aesthetics, and music that will create Instagrammable content. If you’re visiting the southern coastal cities of India, there’s great beauty waiting for you.
1. Chennai’s Beachside Holi Bash Chennai, Tamil Nadu
If you believe that Chennai does not observe Holi enthusiastically, you are mistaken. In recent years, Holi in Chennai has become huge and includes a multitude of beachside and resort celebrations along the ECR. With DJs providing the music, organic colours being used to throw at each other, foam rain from the sky, and colourful sunsets over the Arabian Sea as a backdrop; all of these elements create an overall Instagram aesthetic. The visuals of slow-motion throws of colour against golden sunsets are fabulous.
This is particularly well suited for those who are travelling along the Bengaluru-Chennai or Hyderabad-Chennai axis.
2. Pondicherry’s French-Quarters Holi Puducherry
The classic whitewashed buildings in White Town paired with the bright colours of pink and yellow from Holi create a spectacular combination. Pondicherry has a unique vibe for Holi celebrations: intimate, artsy and very ‘Instagrammable’. Boutique hotels and beach clubs host curated Holi brunches and sunset parties during the week leading up to Holi.
Therefore, if you are travelling along the coastline between Chennai and Pondicherry, you must stop at either of these locations to create stunning reels and colourful shots of the street.
3. Visakhapatnam’s Beachfront Colour Carnival Andhra Pradesh
Holi in Visakhapatnam (Vizag) is a fun celebration; if you want to experience both beach vibes while having fun at the same time, you will be thrilled with all of the fun activities happening along RK Beach and Rushikonda. Expect to see live bands and many activities that include dancing and playing with colour (gulal); while this kind of experience will create many beautiful pictures for social media, the amazing weather and atmosphere will also create some amazing slow-motion videos to capture your experience.
4. Mangaluru’s Coastal Community Holi Karnataka
Traditional celebrations are combined with modern celebrations for beautiful Holi in Mangaluru! With many beaches, local community events, and temple property to choose from, you will find that Mangaluru is a culturally rich, vibrant place to celebrate Holi. Mangaluru has less commercial and more authentic options for celebrating Holi than most locations, so you will have plenty of opportunities to take vibrant portraits, cultural photographs, and coastal landscape photographs during your time there.
You can reach Mangaluru via the Bengaluru – Mangaluru route.
5. Goa’s Shigmo Festival The Coastal Holi Spectacle
Shigmo, which is basically Goa’s version of Holi, celebrates with a huge variety of colours, floats, dancing and folklore. The transformation of Goa into a carnival filled with floats, dancers and traditional drumming creates an eye-catching spectacular and culturally immersive experience instead of just random colour throwing. A perfect opportunity for travellers via the southern coastal area to extend their trip even further!