Petita the Asian elephant will celebrate her 50th birthday this year on Saturday 20th August.

To commemorate this important day, we are preparing a Holi party, a great battle of colours in which more than 150 kilos of pigmented powders will be thrown.

This celebration is the only one of its kind in the world to be organised to celebrate the birthday of an Asian elephant. The elephant’s keepers will colourfully decorate Petita inspired in an Indian dancer. Before, the two elephants will have their daily bath and a pedicure before they are groomed. Keepers will take two days to paint the elephants.

The Holi festival will start at 11 am with the arrival of visitors to Terra Natura Benidorm, where we will put the typical bindi (also called tilak) on their foreheads. This red dot is placed on the forehead of both men and women at the level of the sixth chakra, which symbolises wisdom. The bindi is considered a symbol of protective energy in Hindu culture.

The festival will continue with a parade of musicians and dancers dressed in sharis – traditional Indian dress -where they will offer Petita and Kaiso a special offering of fruit and vegetables to celebrate the birthday of Petita, the elephant who was discriminated by her herd because she was considered ugly according to the established canons of beauty in this species.

The battle of colours will be set to Bollywood songs and choreography performed by the dancers, who will be dressed in original Indian costumes. This event aims to pay tribute to the emotional friendship of these female elephants that allowed them to overcome the discrimination of the rest of the members of the herd.