River Mhadei, fishermen’s issues, protection of marine life in Goa highlighted at Carnival
The first-ever Goan Carnival celebrations took place at the Amador Recreation Centre, Pleasanton in California-USA on February 20. The event was widely appreciated by people, especially the youth, who were witnessing the Goan Carnival for the first time.
Francis Fernandes and his wife, Lydia, who trace their roots to Cortalim, along with Anthony Cardozo (N TONY) from Ambelim-Assolna, all currently living in California, came up with the idea and shared it with few other Goans.
“Everyone was very excited with the idea, all came together and decided to organise it. In less than a month, a lot of Goans in California got in the preparation of making floats and other carnival-related duties,” said Malony Alphonso, who is originally from Quepem.
“Although the Carnival flavour is authentically Goan, the celebration is a bit different as we have to do the event in the park, it’s not possible here to do floats on vehicles like in Goa.”
PARADE
The Carnival celebrations began with the traditional parade with King Momo (Randolfo Dias) and his wife (Remiza Dias), both originally from Raia, accompanied by Feather (Show) girls and kids dressed up in traditional Goan outfits.
This was followed by a Portuguese dance and a float parade. Some of the highlights of the floats were awareness regarding River Mhadei, fishermen’s issue in Goa and protection of Marine life in Goa.
The Save Mhadei floats carried the theme “Amchi Mhadei, Amchi Mai” while the fisherman floats gave out slogans like “Ramponnkar, Paguerkar Boatkar, Ekvottan Ravya Nustekar” and “Xit Koddi Nustem Jevya Re Goykar Zagrut Zauvya Re”.
Other floats also included some Goan traditional Xetkar, Goychem kazar, FC Goa football, Goycho Carnaval, etc.
ACTIVITIES
This was followed by a number of activities for kids, including face painting, puppet show and balloon animal characters, as well as Housie and authentic Goan food like Xit Kodi Nustem, Pork Solantulem and traditional sweets like Vonn and a lot more.
A Konkani Khell Tiatr written and directed by Alexio De Nuvem was also presented in a Goan traditional style along with his Dramatic Troupe. This was followed by DJ music with local Goan DJ’s.
In their Vote of Thanks, Francis and Lydia Fernandes thanked all those who played a role in the Carnival.
RESPONSE
The organisers were pleased with the response from the crowd and the performances at the Carnival celebrations.
“Most of the teenagers here participated and experienced this Goan culture for the very first time and were enjoying every bit of it. One child, Lafio Fernandes (7) asked his mum if we would have the event next year as he enjoyed participating in the Khell Tiatr speaking Konkani. This was the very first time we had this event and this is inspiring our kids here to know our Goan culture more,” said Janice Lopes, who hails from Merces.
Roy Rebello, who hails from Sancoale, nostalgically mentioned that he saw a Carnival after almost 20 years.
Emran Shaikh, hailing from Margao, said he missed this Carnival for many years being in the US. “I was excited to enjoy Goan Carnival abroad,” he said.
A youth, Prasad Desai from Cuncolim, mentioned that it brought him all his childhood memories back from Goa.
There were also some friends from various countries like Colombia, Mexico and Peru who also attended this event.
Ketty Miller from Columbia mentioned this was one of the best colourful events that she attended in the US and also experienced the unity among Goans, which is rare to see nowadays.
