Carnival
The word carnival comes from the latin word carne vale, which means farewell to meat. meaning that those were the last days one could eat meat before the Lenten season began.
Earlier in Goa, the carnival celebration used to be a quiet affair, with celebrations being centred around the village. Carnival is an indulgence of festivities, and merry-making young people swarm the streets, throwing colour powder on each other. It was only after 1961 that floats were introduced. With the participation of the government and also big corporations using it as a platform for advertising, a lot of commercialization of the carnival has taken place. Today we have bigger and more creative floats, which include the King Momo, traditional dancers, and floats based on themes. There are a lot of cultural programmes and dances organised all over the state during the carnival season. The festivities begin with King Momo announcing the Carnival open and his supremacy reigns for the next three days of carnival celebrations. Carnival floats are paraded in the major cities of Goa. It always bring alive the sprit. One can see people dressed in masks, funny clothes to amuse people, fancy dressers, and lots of colours and glitter sprinkled all over. It’s a people’s festival. The last day of carnival is the closing of the festivities.
However, with the commercialization of carnival, the local flavour has virtually been left out; according to the older golden generation of Goans, they do miss the carnival of their younger days. But still, Carnival in Goa rocks. Viva Carnival – Viva Goa!
