St Francis Xavier Church, Duler is celebrating the Decennial year of its elevation from a Chapel to a Parish Church. It was elevated on March 29, 2014. The celebration was initiated in the presence of His Eminence Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao in April 2024. Now, ‘Son-Born’ based on the theme, ‘Anchored in Christ, towards a community of hope and love’ is being celebrated at Duler with a three-day fiesta celebrating its rich cultural, artistic and social heritage, partnering with the Catholic Association of Goa (CAG).
The first day began with a mesmerizing performance by parishioners showcasing their singing and dancing skills and young percussionist Clevy stole the show on drums. Jaden D’Souza and Dylan Azavedo, all teenagers, lent their vocals to make a great start to the celebration with Avito Pires de Menezes as the compere. .
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Alisha Fernandes, a parishioner of the church informs, “On Day 2, January 4, the celebrations will begin at 5.30 pm with a band formed by some of our parish youth along with their friends. All of them are in high school, but they are very talented and recently they won first place at an inter-school event in South Goa. The highlight in the evening will be a tiatr by Roseferns titled ‘Sonvsar tumcho, amchem kitem?’
Sunday, January 5, the celebrations will continue with live performances by a band of young performers from Duler itself followed by the screening of the super hit Konkani film, ‘Nachom-ia Kumpasar’. Released exactly a decade ago, the film united Goans for their love of music and movies. Directed by Bardroy Barretto, the film is still screened across Goa and the Goan diaspora. Bardroy says, “It is a good feeling to see the film receive the same love it did when it was released. I didn’t expect it to continue being screened for ten years but it is always a great feeling.”
Besides the live performances and the movie screening, the festival will offer a very interesting mix of stalls where the parishioners will exhibit their talents with different creations including resin art, face painting, furniture, bakery products, crochet, art and craft, key chains, potted plants and most importantly, pottery, which has been a traditional trade in the parish.
