Life in Goa is unimaginable without a coconut. Goans eat coconut, drink the water and live surrounded by trees. Siolim is no different as the coastal village is dotted with coconut trees, which gave birth to the idea of having a unique Coconut Festival at the Space at Edricia Farm in Siolim.
Tanya Carvalho Fernandes of The Space, Edricia Farm recently conducted traditional art workshops to encourage and teach the present and future generations about these dying arts. From coconut weaving (mollam making) coconut broom making, coconut rope and basket making, the workshops began to support a weaving artist, Sabina Da Cunha. “Sabina was introduced to me by my close friend, Dr Greta D’Costa, a well-known and retired veterinary doctor from Moira. The response was overwhelming with not only Goans participating, but also Indians as well as foreigners. I decided to invite more artisans to teach such traditional arts. Soon, broom making workshops were started by Luisa Dantas from Siolim,” says Tanya.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
How did the idea for the festival germinate? “Barely a month ago, I met Erwin Fonseca of Assagao Farmers and suddenly the concept of having a festival dedicated solely to our very useful coconut tree emerged. The main purpose behind this festival is to honour the pluckers, toddy tappers who are risking their lives day in and day out and have hardly much support. Artists like Sabina and Luisa are also extremely hardworking and deserve to be acknowledged for carrying out traditional artwork,” explains Tanya.
Alexyz will be inaugurating the festival by cutting a rope made from coconut husk. The oldest coconut plucker from Siolim will be honoured with coconut based hampers. There will be four workshops, palm weaving and broom making from 3 pm – 4 pm, clay moulding (making a coconut tree) from 4 pm -5 pm, basket making from 5 pm -6 pm and Ram Krishna from Ponda, will make beautiful coconut crafts.
“Since last about seven years, I had this concept of having a Coconut Festival. As Assagao Organic Farm completes 10 years, I revived the concept and I happened to meet Tanya of Edricia Farm and took up the idea with her. She instantly supported the idea and started work right from day one itself,” informs Erwin Fonseca of Assagoa Farmers.
He further adds, “There are three important reasons to celebrate the Coconut Festival in Siolim. Firstly, Siolim has its own flavour to celebrate world coconut day, secondly, the love for Siolim village and its natural beauty is under threat and thirdly, it highlights the importance of the coconut tree in-depth and the need for protecting and preserving it.”
Goa’s noted caricaturist and poet, and Siolim-based Alexyz came up with a new concept to hold an exhibition displaying artworks with many renowned artists including Anand Mohan Naik, syringe artist Clarice Vaz, Damodar Madgaonkar and Aquila and Siolim’s very own artists, cartoonist Angela Ferrao and Winona Fernandes. Every painting will focus on the coconut tree.
Speaking about the Coconut Painting Exhibition, Alexyz says, “This is the first art show in Goa and maybe in India or globally to focus on the iconic and stately yet unheralded coconut tree. I have written over 400 poem and published a book of them. I came up with a new concept for this exhibition, each of my 20 artworks will be accompanied with a verse describing the theme of the painting. One of my artworks is 3 feet 4 inches and has six verses.”
There will be live music by Agnelo Fernandes, who will open the festival, followed by Carlos Gonsalves, Raju D’Pietro, who is also exhibiting his paintings and Selvin, a noted singer and tiatrist from Siolim. All of the performers will have one thing in common, the coconut tree.
There will be Goan delicacies made with coconut and many stalls with artefacts, soaps, vinegar, toddy, jaggery, herbal products, coco peat, and coconut based products will be on sale. Even coconut saplings will be available. Toddy tapping, coconut plucking (manual and machine) will be demonstrated, talks on coconut tree health and disease control will be conducted by Dheeraj of Baradi Farmers and Hepan Vadekal. An e-book will be released by Frederick Noronha of Goa 1556.
Since this is an eco-friendly festival, there will use no plastic and guests are advised to kindly carry their own containers and shopping bags.
