Tourism
of Goa
Fairs
& Festivals
Carnival
in GoaIt
is Goa's most famous festival and has been celebrated since the 18th
century. Meant to be a feasting-drinking-merrymaking orgy just before the 40
days of Lent; a time of abstinence and spirituality. Huge parades through
the cities are organised with bands, floats and dances and balls in the
evenings. The final day concludes with the famous Red-and-Black dance held
by the Clube Nacional in Panjim.
The origins of carnival are
apparently the hedonistic feasts of ancient Rome and Greece. It made its
appearance in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, where it metamorphosed
into the very Latin singing-dancing-drinking bouts. The carnival is presided
over by King Momo, who on the opening day orders his subjects to party. The
festival attracts thousands of tourists.
The exciting and
fun-filled three-day non-stop extravaganza of fun, frolic, song, music and
dance that is uniquely Goan is a Pagan festival popular in Latin American
countries that were colonies of Portugal at some point in time.
The
Carnival is uniquely Goan and is not celebrated anywhere else in India. It
is a typical Latin, song, music and dance and precedes the "Lent".
The highlight of the exotic frenzy of merriment is the appointment and
arrival of “KING MOMO” and his retinue to the capital city Panaji
on "Fat Saturday", the eve of Carnival.
They form the
head of a parade of colorful floats and troupes of masked revelers attired
in gorgeous costumes singing and dancing in gay abandon to lively music that
is usually performed live. The best floats are given handsome prizes.
The
floats have in recent years been commercially sponsored. Carnival is also
celebrated in the Goan countryside by the Christian populace and is called ‘Intruz’.
It assumes a unique form of creative spontaneity wherein folk
songs/Cantars are sung from door to door in villages by troupes of mainly
Christian peasants inviting everyone to join in the celebration.
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