FESTIVALS OF GOA Highlight : Most Spectacular Feast Major Festivals : Goa Carnival, Shigmo, Ganesh Chaturthi Destinations : Panaji, Margao, Ponda, Canacona, Colva Beach What To Do : Enjoy the Spectacular Vision and Cuisines

Festive Celebrations - Celebrate Life In Goa

Goa Festivals

Goa Carnival Arts And Crafts

Christmas

Music And Dance

With a harmonious mix of variant creed and thought flow in its population, Goa has always a reason to celebrate. Despite a long period of Portuguese colonisation, the colourful festivals of Goa have retained their unique charm and are celebrated with deep fervour. Most of the celebrations are woven around religious occasions. Singing and dancing becomes a part of life. People step down to streets in vibrant attires and the whole state pulsates with the beats of merriment. Come to Goa during your holiday to see a new life. A life that never gets tired to enjoy!

Variant Colours of Festivity

Just before Lent in February-March, Goa surrenders to the spirit of fun and frolic and celebrates the Carnival. A portuguese legacy, Goans celebrate the Carnival with mind-blowing dance performances, euphonic music, delicious food, float parades and the uproarious festivities of three days, presided over by King Momo in all the major towns. Join in, let your hair down to the exquisite spirit of joie de vivre and get a memorable experience to relish throughout your life.

The mixed culture of Goa is manifestated in other festivals too. Be a part of the glamorous Shigmo, applauded as the festival of colours. You can see colourful floats depicting Hindu mythology. Dance with the rhythm of cymbals with the folks, adorned in traditional costumes and carrying myriad coloured flags. The biggest Christian festival - the Feast of St. Francis Xavier - is held on 3rd December at Old Goa and is attended by thousands of devotees from all pockets of the world. The festival is unique in a way that it beckons an interesting blend of east and the west. The magnificent dance forms like Kunbi and Mando are vivid examples of this fusion of Oriental and Western cultures - with predominatly western music and oriental movements. Goa has a few other unparagoned festivals that gives this palm-fringed state an extra edge.

Merriment In Monsoons

While Goa celebrates 365 days of the year, the monsoon festivals are fascinating as the rituals around them are a passageway to ancient fertility rites and worship of the elements that are long forgotten. The Sao Joah (Saint John) feast is an interesting occassion in which the village folks jump into monsoon drenched wells. Goans explain the custom with a reference to St. John, the Baptist, leaping in his mother's womb when she met Mary, the mother of Jesus. You can see a number of makeshift rafts - sangodd - or boats adorned impressively floating on streams and rivers in some north Goans villages. As the rains wash the terrain and red mud comes to their true self, Goa springs up in Chikhalkala, the festival of mud that takes place in front of Devaki Krishna Temple in Marcela, in Ponda Taluka. It is amazing to see players (khelgadi) smear oil on their bodies and play traditional games in the mud, believed to have been played by child Krishna.

Goans Celebrating Holi, The Festival of Colours

The Chill Out Festivity

You will be amazed to know that it is the only place besides Rome that has the annual Procession of All Saints (Goa Velha). Apart from the bustle of the cities, the serene villages also spring up to life during the festive times. On the auspicious day of 6th January every year, the three villages of Reis Magos, Cansaulim and Chandor celebrate the 'Journey of Three Kings' - who came bearing gifts for Lord Jesus - with reenactment by local boys who impressively groom themselves for the exciting role. You can shop for some enticing local handicrafts from the fair that springs up atop the hill. Motley stalls sell different artifacts of tourist's interest and it's a pleasure to wander around amidst them. Another festival that draws innumerable tourists is the Christmas. People from all over the world come to Goa to celebrate the birth of Jesus with their loved ones. Beaches reverberate with Goan trance and everyone dancing to the tunes. The whole city is embellished with opulent lights and Goa transforms into a paradise.

Be A Part of The Desired Fun

The grand festivals of Goa display some chosen and cherished moments of the glorious past and affluent traditional culture of the state, for its visitors. The most interesting feature is that, all festivals are celebrated by all communities, irrespective of their caste, creed or belief. Visit the local stalls arrected during the festivals which display a wide array of typical Goan handicrafts and antique items. Adorn yourself with one of the ethnic ornaments dangling from the racks of the tribal stalls, trinkets which have now become a craze among the urban elite, both at home and abroad.