Water Balloons and Bollywood, India covers itself with color on Holi festival

NEW DELHI — There’s no way to avoid getting smeared with colored powder, hosed with water guns or hit with sparkle-filled water balloons if you venture out of your home in India on Friday.

The streets come alive as the country celebrates Holi, the Hindu festival of colors and one of the biggest and most vivid festivals on the calendar.

It has also grown in popularity abroad, including in neighboring Nepal, which has large Hindu population, and in the U.S, where color-throwing events have been organized over the weekend.

But in India, it’s more raucous.