Source: Indian News Service
Wire Service: IANS
[indianmuslims.info/news/2007/march/03/art_culture/caribbeans_celebrate_holi_in_big_way.html]
Georgetown, March 3 (IANS) As in India, Holi is also celebrated with great enthusiasm in the Caribbean -- where it is better known as Phagwah.
Indians who went to the Caribbean as labourers in the 19th and early 20th centuries took along the festival to Guyana, Surinam and Trinidad. Phagwah has become one of the important festivals in Guyana and Surinam and is celebrated by both the Hindus and the non-Hindus.
Holi or Phagwah is a national holiday in Guyana, as Hindus constitute about 33 percent of the country's population.
It is quite common to see young boys and girls playing with coloured powder and water here.
In fact, celebrations in Guyana have already begun, with the Dharmic Sanskritik Kendra, a prominent Hindu group, organising the annual pre-Phagwah mela (fair) and bazaar.