March 13,2025:Holi, the festival of colors, is now also a festival of connections. As the country gears up for celebrations, dating apps across India are seeing a surge in matches, interactions, and spontaneous meetups. India’s most popular dating app, QuackQuack, revealed that their new survey shows 2 in 7 matches formed around the festival turned into real-life connections. The app’s Founder and CEO, Ravi Mittal, said, “Holi is all about embracing joy, which makes it an exciting time to begin something new. The new survey data shows that beyond flirting online and the festive spirit, many users are forming real relationships. We noticed that it happens often around auspicious days and group celebrations.”
The study was conducted by QuackQuack in the first week of March, with responses from more than 9500 users from Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities. Participants varied between 20 and 35 and belonged to a range of professions, including IT, healthcare, sales and marketing, social media content creators, finance, and more.
Color-Coded Connection
Holi has always been the perfect backdrop for chemistry and connection, and this year, in the digital dating world, GenZ singles have come up with a fun and unique new trend- daters are deciding compatibility based on color choices. QuackQuack’s data shows more than 21% of matches initiated a conversation about “favorite gulal colors.” Daters between 20 and 26 revealed people who chose red, blue, and yellow were categorized in the easy-going category. The ones who picked purple, green, and pink were put in the complicated category. If two users picked the same color, it was considered a sign to continue the match and see where it goes! Ishita from Gurgaon said, “It’s nothing serious, just a cute way of finding your kind of people. The first category of people are ones who are happy with the basics, and the second category of people are more meticulous and specific. It was a fun little way of understanding and guessing each other’s personality.”
Bhaang bonds and Buddy system
QuackQuack revealed that Bhaang-fueled conversations have always been a Holi specialty, but this year, the interesting trend was how daters from Tier 1, 2, and 3 chose safety as their top priority. While over 3266 users from metros and suburbs disclosed starting a conversation with a stagnant match, they also revealed maintaining “the buddy system,” where their closest friends would monitor the conversation to keep an eye out for red flags and warning bells. Tanmay (27) from Varanasi shared, “I decided to finally send that first message to my online crush, and I had my best friends reviewing all my messages, making sure I wasn’t being inappropriate or “too out there” in any way.”
Pakka Pyar Vs. Gulaal ghosters
This Holi, QuackQuack’s female users explained how every festivity comes with its fair share of genuine connections and fleeting ones, too. While 9% of women revealed having met people who disappeared before the Holi colors could fade, and most of these were matches under 25, over 32% of women shared having met their perfect match and planning to meet IRL on Holi. Nimisha from Hampi said, “I met two people before Holi, one 25 and the other 29. I think the older ones are looking for serious connections while the younger men are still exploring. It’s perfectly fine, and importantly, I struck up a great conversation with my second match.”
Holi Safety Checks
While the festival of color is famous for carefree fun, QuackQuack users maintain strict Holi Safety Checks. 19% of men shared how their matches were insistent on public meetups and group events, and they also explained how that also takes off the pressure of a one-on-one setup. Sober Flirting was the trending word of the pre-Holi week.