At last there is some good news for the people of Goa. The carnival will be held over a period of four days this month. This decision was taken yesterday at a meeting by the tourism department with officials from the government. Francisco Martins the man behind various floats over the years said the government decided to go ahead and a meeting would be held today in the evening to finalise everything. He said “The carnival will be a four day affair from February 13,14,15,16. The Samba square will be on all the days and Feb 13 will be the parade in Panjim and the next day in Margoa. It has also been decided to organise the carnival on the Miramar-Dona Paula road. This was the route used last year”. This will however mean everything will have to be done quickly. Martims said till yesterday evening no one had called him to talk about any floats. He however said the decorations used last year would do absolutely this year too. The same he said would also go with the masks. Vasco Alvares who has been a regular at the Samba square with his stall said he would be present because it was important for him to be there and it was also very good for business. Nilesh Shah President TTAG said it was good the government had decided to go ahead and conduct the carnival. He however maintained it would be very important the government insist that everyone follow the protocols set to combat the virus. He said “We seem to have escaped lightly with no surge being reported after the New Year celebrations. The carnival attracts huge crowds and it would make sense to follow the protocols to avoid disaster in the future.”
