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Goa to tone down carnival celebrations amid Covid-19 pandemic
Besides the float parades involving decorated floats representing various facets of Goa’s life and culture, the carnival is also celebrated through dances and community events.
Goa will for the first time in many years tone down its otherwise extravagant carnival celebrations in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism minister Manohar “Babu” Ajgaonkar said Wednesday.
As opposed to the usual six venues where government sponsored float parades are held, the festival will this year be held in only two major towns - the state capital Panaji and Margao in South Goa Ajgaonkar said.
Guidelines for people to maintain Covid-19 protocol would be enforced, he said.
The noisy, crowded and usually boisterous float parade traces back to Goa’s Portuguese cultural heritage and is held in the days preceding the solemnity Ash Wednesday the first day of a 40-day period of abstinence and fasting observed by Catholics who make up nearly one-third of Goa’s population. This year Ash Wednesday falls on February 17.
The festival is said to represent one last swig of the bottle and a steak of beef before 40 days of abstinence kick-in. While not celebrated at the scale of those parades in Europe or Brazil, Goa’s carnival parades represent the only surviving such parades in Asia where the Portuguese once had many colonies and trading posts.
At a meeting, Goa’s tourism department and the municipal corporation of Panaji agreed to tone down celebrations although the parade will be held.
“The government has decided that we shall go ahead with the carnival. People have been stuck at home for a long time now and no events also have taken place. So this is an opportunity to come out and enjoy a bit and people have also begun taking precautions. People now know the measures to be taken to avoid Covid. So I don't expect that there will be a big problem,” mayor of Panaji Uday Madkaikar said.
“Corona hasn't ended, the cases may have come down compared to earlier. All measures will be taken. We will also appeal to people to take care,” he added.
The floats are led by King Momo, a mascot who is figuratively symbolically given the keys to the city and reads out a decree declaring three days of fun and merrymaking urging people to ‘Eat, drink and make merry!”
Besides the float parades involving decorated floats representing various facets of Goa’s life and culture, the festival is also celebrated through dances and community events, all of which will be toned down this year.
