Snapchat adds Holi-themed tools to brighten up your posts

This year’s Holi is going to be very different. Last year, around Holi the country was yet to enter the lockdown and some people managed to get some Holi celebrations in. This year you can well rule that out and celebrate it just with your immediate family or flatmates as you stay locked in at home.

And while we cannot wait for things to go back to normal, for now we will have to settle with wishing friends and family from a distance and through our laptop and phone screens. On that front, Snapchat has some helpful tools for you.

Snapchat has added some colourful sticker packs and augmented reality (AR) lenses (including 3D Bitmojis), Snap Map features, filters, paint-throwing cameos and more to help you mark the occasion in your own unique way.

Snapchatters across the world have created more than 50 Holi lenses for the Snap community that can all be found under the ‘Holi Hai’ tab in the Lens Explorer section. There’s also going to be a dedicated Holi-themed content in Discover - like 5-minute Crafts India, BRUT india and PLUC.

Snap has also today announced the four winners of the recent Holi Lensathon in partnership with Skillenza. And the winners are - Jeetesh Singh, Deepak Chaturvedi, Kunal Gediya and Chanchal Choudhary.

Created using the Snap’s Lens Studio these four winning lenses were picked out of hundreds of entries judged on technicality, originality and creativity. Jeetesh’s lens drenches a Snapchatter in flower-infused coloured water upon tap with the caption 'Bura na mano Holi hai'; while Deepak’s lens will have Snapchatters eating as many Gujiyas as they can and Krunal’s lens will have Snapchatters bursting balloons. Finally, Chanchal’s lens, which was voted the most creative, allows Snapchatters to create their own Holi fire.

You can customise your own greetings this year with these new lenses, filters and Bitmojis instead of forwarding messages to your loved ones like it’s still 2020.