King Momo is finally here to declare the final days of fun, frolic, and enjoyment open today, March 1, before the 40 days of the Lenten season. Carnival is here, and everyone in Goa is excited to witness the parades, which will showcase creatively decorated floats making their way through the majestic Panjim streets. The fun, festivities, and much more will be on display as crowds from far and wide come to the capital city to witness the first day of the Carnival parade. From traditional occupations to the fruits and flowers of the state, the Carnival is a visual and musical treat. The traditional occupations of Goa, along with individual floats, are all part of the Carnival, entertaining the crowds and showcasing the best of their talent.
Funky junk comes to life
The Carnival parade features different categories, adding more vibrancy to the annual affair. Some of the categories include traditional, family, fun junk car, clowns/jokers, and individuals. Terrence Carvalho from Mapusa is an enthusiastic participant who has been part of the parade, first as an individual and now with his family in the fun junk car category.
From November-December itself, Terrence starts working on the vintage car, bringing it back to life with new colors according to the theme of the year. “Terrence has been participating in Carnival for the past 25 years. But since we got married, we have been participating as Jolly Fun Family from Mapusa. The car gets a makeover with informative themes. We have been creating awareness on different topics, and this year, it is based on safe driving,” says Sarita Carvalho, Terrence’s wife.
A theme closer to the shores of Goa
Dominic D'Souza from Nagao, Arpora is part of NA Boyz working on a float based on sea turtles and the theme is ‘Help to protect and conserve sea turtles’ which showcase different phases of their life from the nests to the sea. “We have been participating for nearly 4 to 5 years and we even won the third place one year and consolation prizes. More than the prizes, it is the team spirit and the unity of the youngsters of the village and the friend circle that makes the floats a success
Vinesh Madkaikar helps us in painting every year. We started working on this float exactly a month ago,” says Dominic.
The colourful float will be on display only at Panjim and Mapusa. “The youngsters especially the dancers get tired by the time we are done with the parades and travel back home. We keep them continuously hydrated as they are dancing in the scorching hot sun. We have six pairs of dancers as part of our group,”
adds Dominic.
Youth power at the parades
With two major floats coming out of Benaulim, the youth were motivated to helm their own float. From the age group of 15-22 years, Hustle Squad from Mazil Vaddo, makes for one of the youngest groups for the parade. This is just the second year that they are participating at the Carnival but their Panda themed float last year surely won the hearts of the onlookers. Jocelyn Fernandes, is one of the youngsters involved in the planning and execution of the float. “Our float consists of various animals like tigers, lions and elephants as we want to share the message of saving the environment for a better tomorrow. Our group consists of 25 youth with 16 dancers and we are excited to showcase our hardwork that we put into the float. We are all set for Carnival in Panjim and Benaulim,”
says Jocelyn.
When nature lovers travel to the cities
From one of the smallest villages of Goa, Kodxel-Nadora in Bardez, JoeMax Brothers make it a
point to begin the work on their floats at least a month in advance. Every year for over a decade, they highlight one animal of the state. This year, the pangolin will be in the focus as they create awareness about the endangered species. “It is very important to save pangolins as they are the protectors of the forests. They eat ants and termites which affect the trees in the forests. They save the entire green cover and we should create awareness about them,” says Maxwell D’Souza, who will be taking the lead in the float with 15 people including dancers.
As Kodxel is a small village, close friends from the neighbouring villages of Pirna and Tivim, also join the float. “We travel to all four parades in the state and we have also won prizes at different parades. Last year, we worked on a float based on the theme of bullfighting,” adds Maxwell.