Fairs and Festivals of Goa - GOA PCS Exam Notes

Fairs and Festivals of Goa

Goa Carnival

The most amazing thing about Goa is that fun & festivities which begins in December with the holiday season does not stop upon arrival of the New Year but continues up to the celebration of Goa Carnival or the pre Mardi Gras revelry, a tradition that dates back to the arrival of Portuguese in Goa way back in 1510.
Based on the Christian tradition of Mardi Gras (Known as Fat Wednesday) which refers to the events of the carnival celebrations.
Goa Carnival is a festival that celebrates the culture and cuisine of Goa on a grand scale every year.
Originating from the tradition of Mardi Gras, a tradition of hedonistic feasts and dancing & drinking bouts before the fasting and abstinence associated with penitential season of lent, Goa Carnival is a 4 day razzmatazz that is observed all through the state with great gusto and zeal.

Christmas

Christmas is a festival which is celebrated all over the global with a lot of enthusiasm and joy, cutting across the barriers of religion.
But there is a special charm in the Christmas in Goa that sets it apart from celebrations of Christmas anywhere else in India.
It is being predominated mainly by the Christians, Goa, during this time comes alive in a kaleidoscope of colors and revelry.
During Christmas in Goa, all the streets are lit up and the market places are all decorated with tinsel and buntings.
There are Christmas trees shining and glittering in every corner of the streets and inside the houses of Goa region.
All the houses and churches are brightly lit up and decorated. Celebrations start from Christmas Eve when the beautiful harmony and melody of the Christmas carols fill up the pleasant ambiance of Goa and brings the festive mood.
The wonderful smell of baking cakes and the songs of the church bells fills up the air that is already vibrant and colorful with the celebrations of the Goa Christmas.
There are the parties,morning masses,prayers,the music, shopping,dance and other festivities that all add up to the exotic fiesta that is in sync with the beat of the sea, the sun and Christmas.
Christmas is celebrated all over the globe on the 25th of December and the celebrations of Christmas in Goa start from the Christmas Eve till the festive spirit lingers on, even after Christmas.

Sunburn Festival

Sunburn Festival, India’s biggest Electronic Dance Music Festival, attracts more than 3,50,000 people and hundreds of artists every year.
After years of being held on Vagator Beach in Goa, it has shifted its venue to the hills of Pune and rebranded itself to Sunburn Hills.
The event celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2016, and in 2017, is set to captivate the masses with their electric vibe and spectacular performances by some of the greatest names in this genre like Martin Garrix, Hardwell, David Guetta and Armin van Buuren.
Pune is all set to usher in the New Year with some great music, dance and food.
Sunburn festival was started in the year 2007 as the brainchild of Nikhil Chinapa and Percept Entertainment.
For ten years now, it has been a highly anticipated event for its fans around the globe.
After rocking the beaches of Goa and thrilling the minds of its people for many years, its venue was shifted to Pune in the year 2016.
The venue for Sunburn Festival in 2016 was Sunburn Hills in Pune, a private owned 90 acre land in Kesnand on the Pune-Ahmedabad highway.
The brainchild of Nikhil Chinapa and Percept Entertainment, Sunburn festival was started in 2007.
Candolim beach was decked for the biggest party of the year and the tradition continues at the Vagator Beach.
For 10 consecutive years, it has been the most awaited event.

Goa Liberation Day

Goa Liberation day holds great significance in the history of Goa.
It signifies the day when Goa was released of Portuguese dominance by assistance from the Indian Navy.
The liberation helped the people of Goa to relieve themselves from the exploitative rules of the Portuguese.
The liberation also made the independence of India complete as after the British left India, Goa was the only part that remained under the British rule.
The day is celebrated with a lot of fanfare in Goa.
The celebration features a torch light procession that takes off from three various locations of Goa.
The three processions ultimately meet at the Azad Maidan and the participants of the procession pay their tribute to the martyrs.
Cultural programs like Sugam Sangeet are also organized to celebrate the day

Feast of St. Francis Xavier

India is a land of countless festivals, in stride with the cycle of the seasons.
These proceed with sowings and harvesting and around them have grown legends, most of them portraying the victory of good over evil.
These fairs and festivals confer color and gaiety to life of the Indians.
Some festivals and fasts are specific protocols of religion which aims towards communication with the Almighty.
The Indian calendar is marked by superfluity of such big and small occasions. Some festivals are mainly of religious nature, and others are related more to, change of season and harvesting.
They have a retentive past and many have gone through major alterations.
The vivacity of the people is reflected in the colorful liveliness of the fairs and festivals.
Processions, prayers, new attires, dance, music etc. are essentials related to any of such celebration.
Though, the fervor for some of the festivals also seems to be disappearing, yet they are capable of bringing about a change in the lifestyle of the people.
The Feast of St. Francis Xavier in Goa begins each year from 21st November and continues up to 2nd January.
Certainly there can be no better time to plan your trip to Goa.

The Procession of All Saints

The Procession of All Saints in Goa is one of the most popular festivals in the state of Goa. A huge number of people take part in this festival.
The Procession of All Saints in Goa starts every year in the month of March from the Church of St Andrew in Old Goa.
It gives you the wonderful opportunity to be a part of a religious festival and fair and also be witness to the extravagant carnival.
Goa is the only place outside Rome where such a procession is held.
The procession attracts thousands of people from neighboring villages around Goa Velha.
Local devotees carry life size statues of 31 saints on their shoulders on the fifth Monday of Lent and circulate it in a solemn procession around the whole village.
Although a religious procession, a gaiety atmosphere can be seen in the evening because the main road is lined up with stalls selling snacks, sweets, and toys etc

Description of Feast of Three Kings

The Feast of Three Kings Festival continues run for 10 days.
During this time, there is continuous dance, music and partying that keeps the spirit of Goa high.
During the nine days of continuous revelry, the devotees come to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Mount to offer prayers and seek her blessings.
The last day of the festival is celebrated in a unique fashion when three small boys aged between 8 & 10 are dressed up as the three Kings who brought gifts for infant Jesus.
These boys, chosen from the local villages dress themselves up and make preparations for the grand event when they become the king for a day.
The boys arrive to the chapel to offer wealth to the lady of the Mount and each of them take a different path and is accompanies by a jovial crowd.
After the end of the rituals, there is a grand fete & finally fair organized where one can buy a wide variety of things, such as copper, brassware, furniture, clothes, toys, trinkets, bangles and spices.
The Feast of the Three Kings is celebrated on the 6th of January while the celebrations start from as early as 9 days before that.
The venue for the celebration is on the Festa dos Reis or the Epiphany.

Goa Heritage Festival

This festival is a combined effort of the Goa Heritage Action Group (an NGO based in Goa), the Corporation of the City of Panaji and the Department of Tourism, Government of Goa.
The festival, now in its third year, aims to preserve and promote the built heritage of Goa.
The festival is marked by performances from various artists as well as display of work of art by local artisans.
The festival in short is not only meant to celebrate the cultural heritage of the state.
It also makes an effort to inspire awareness and appreciation in the hearts of Goans with respect to their culture and the need to conserve it for the benefit of future generation

Sea Food Festival

This annual Sea food festival celebrates the rich sea food of Goa.
For five days at a stretch, reputed hotels and chefs hold a stall and offer wonderful sea food prepared by them.
Not to be left behind, the housewives too make their contribution in turning this event into a joyful affair.
The festival will be loved by all those who are fond of sea food in general and Goan sea food in particular.

Monte Music Festival

A pretty recent festival, started just few years back, the Monte Music Festival celebrates the coming together of western classical along with Indian classical form of music.
The venue for the festival, which is organised by the combined efforts of Fundacao Oriente, Cidade de Goa and the Kala Academy, is Capela da Nossa Senhora do Monte (Chapel of Our Lady of the Mount).
Performances are usually held for four days and provides a platform to a number of artists to display their talents in front of an appreciative audience

Local Festivals of Goa

Shigmotsav or Shigmo:

This is a grand five-day festival of colours, celebrated distinctively in the villages, corresponding with Holi or Spring Festival.
Held for one-week up to the full-moon day in March, Shigmo is universally celebrated in Goa, but especially at Panaji, Mapusa, Vasco-da-Gama and Margao.

Kalas Utsav

Kalas Utsav is celebrated on a major scale every alternate year at Sri Morjaee Temple in Pernem.
People from Maharashtra and Karnataka also attend the seven-day socio-religious event held here.
Novidade:

The farmers, Hindu or Christian give their first offering to the church before harvesting their rice crop.

The offering takes place at the time of Novidade, in which the parish priest himself harvests a sheaf of rice and returns with it to the Church.
Local people accompany him with music, fire-works and jubilation.
Women folk of Goa’s earliest tribal settlers perform a dance called Bhandup in the second half of the month.

Zatra of Shri Shantadurga

The Zatra of Shri Shantadurga is held at Dhargali in Pernem.
The deity is taken out of the temple in a colorful procession for the day.
The annual zatra of Shri Shantadurga at Kunkoliemkarin at Fatorpa in Quepem also falls in this month.
Thousands flock to attend the festival from distant lands.

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