Goa govt’s move to quash ‘indie’ carnival celebrations upset locals

The ‘tourist beach carnival– an annual affair since 2002 organised mainly by foreigners– was also forced to be postponed after the authorities denied the organisers permission, according to the locals

The Goa government has begun cracking down and withdrawing permissions for celebration events being organised by the locals fearing the festivities would deflate the state’s flagship celebration ‘the Goa Carnival’.

Goa Carnival, which is four days of sheer entertainment, will be held from February 18 to February 21 this year (Twitter Photo)

Goa Carnival, which is four days of sheer entertainment, will be held from February 18 to February 21 this year.

In the capital city Panaji, the organisers of the Carnaval do Povo (People’s Carnival), which was to be held on Saturday, were called off after the local authorities denied permission for the event.

Locals allege that the Mayor and the district MLA have denied permission to hold public festivities amid the upcoming Goa Carnival.

Panaji mayor Rohit Monserrate said it wasn’t the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) that denied permission for the event and sought to lay the blame at the door of other authorities. “From our side, we had given permission for the event, I don’t know what happened after that,” Monserrate said.

It wasn’t just in Panjim, in South Goa, a Big Fat Carnival event affiliated with opposition legislator Vijai Sardesai was called off due to lack of permissions, a move that Sardesai labelled as “evil, selfish politics.”

In South Goa’s Fatorda, an event not affiliated with the official organising committee was denied permission, allegedly because an opposition legislator was behind it.

The ‘tourist beach carnival– an annual affair since 2002 organised mainly by foreigners– was also forced to be postponed after the authorities denied the organisers permission, according to the locals.

“They are trying to destroy the spirit of carnival,” Aloo Gomes Pereira who had put together the Carnaval do Povo told HT.

“We were trying to recreate a festival that would be done for and by the people of the city– the three wards of Panjim São Tomé, São Sebastião (Fontainhas) that make up the city’s Latin quarter used to have the biggest celebration of carnival in the old days,” Pereira said.

“They have not offered us any explanation for why the celebration has been cancelled,” he added.

The Goa Carnival in its present form owes its origins to the Portuguese who ruled the state for a little more than 450 years leaving behind a legacy of Iberian-inspired festivals.

It is celebrated a weekend before Ash Wednesday– which marks the 40-day Christian austere period of Lent.

“Originally the carnival was a people’s festival and the fun was in taking part in it and playing with it,” Pereira recalls. Over the years the carnival got more formalised with the involvement of the state tourism department, he said.

Today the ‘official’ festival is derided for being a bland parade with professional dancers and cultural troupes but no involvement of the people.

“Traditionally, the Panjim Carnival has been a festival with a strong local flavour, with Ponnjekars not only hosting it but also actively participating in it by creating floats, art, performances and events for the occasion. In recent years, however, it has become completely commercialised and has lost its local ethos and character. Most of the floats are sponsored by commercial interests solely for brand promotion,” Valmiki Naik, a resident of the city and aspiring politician, said.

“This event, which has all the ingredients of an authentic Carnival, is being actively sabotaged by the powers. Despite the event not posing any kind of threat to the main commercial event, the authorities are hellbent on stopping this non-commercial people’s event,” Naik added.

“The People’s Carnival would have had no financial implication for the state as citizens were organising it out of their love for the city and to bring back the old traditional carnival. This betrayal by the MLA and Mayor is outrageous and condemnable,” Adv Aires Rodrigues of Ribandar said.

However, not all indie movements were quelled. A ‘Children’s Carnival’ that was organised within the confines of St John, the Baptist Church in Pilerne, a village in North Goa, saw the entire village come together to teach the younger generations to make masks and enjoy the carnival festivities like in the old days.

“We first held a workshop for the children to teach them to make masks and play the ghumot (a traditional terracotta percussion instrument) and on the day, we held a small parade and served traditional fare like in the old days. If we can teach the children, the traditions will definitely survive,” Marius Fernandes who helped organise the festival said.