Goa at decked up for the Shigmo Carnival
VIDYUT KUMAR TA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

PANAJI: Many single out Goa for its beach charm. It's
just not just enough with chilling out and roasting on
the palm-fringed beaches as what every tourists do
here, while there is lots more beyond the horizon.

There has been a sudden spurt of ebullient events in
Goa, like the most awaited six days summer fiesta
'Shigmo' Carnival which will set in motion on March 19
till March 24, 2003, accompanied by the fanfare of
drum beats and the epic enactions of mythology.

Goa is all set to witness yet another Mardi
Gras-'Shigmo', which is just round the corner, mixed
with colourful vivid vibrancy that will hue the
festivities and bedeck every area with music of the
'Dhol'; and conches. Shigmo marks the end of the Hindu
calendar of lunar months- known as 'Holi' in other
parts of the country.

There has been a sudden spurt of festive events of
laughter and satire since the onset of March with the
four days Goan Carnival, which was held between March
1 and 4 last.

According to N Suryanarayana, Director Of Tourism,
this year's Shigmo Carnival will be a bit diverse in
contrast to the early ones where the very conventional
and ethnic essence of Goa will be conserved spaced out
from the typical commercial ones.

According to Joquim Telis, President of the Panaji
Carnival Committee, the concept of having a commercial
annual event like Carnival and Shigmo in Goa is also
to herald the season of harvest and manifestation of
farmer communities.

The Shigmo will be commemorated in five different
places like Panaji, Margao, Vasco, Mapusa, Ponda and
Quepem on six different days overflowed with jollity
and carousing entertaining the holiday makers.

Customarily, Carnival and Shigmo festivals are
celebrated to add to the desires towards drawing
attention on various aspects of social and cultural
ethnicity that subsist in the present-day Goan
society.

The rural community has its own charismatic and
conventional way of celebrating the event, with
traveling troupes performing in different areas with
colourful costumes and merry inebriation, which is a
part of the slice of the spirit of fun.

Amidst all satirical events, the nightlife in Goa is
turning to be more exciting with chill, spills and
thrills, with the usual mood as tranquil as ever with
the sand the moon and the pounding waves, says
Suryanarayana.

On can reach the climax upon venturing into an
exhilarating experience like windsurfing.

Get on to any shoreline like Colva, Benaulim,
Calangute, Vagator, Baga and Anjuna and get the chance
to get a hold of a close-up with the snout-nosed
smiling creatures of deep sea Dolphins.

For the incurable city slickers, who would rather want
to chill-out after sundown, there is club Xtreme
situated in Panaji which functions as a hangout café
during the day and a disco at night.

There are several up market nigh-clubs in Goa like the
Marriott's Designer Bar Ozone, which is considered to
be a brainchild of ace Goan fashion designer Wendell
Rodricks, followed by Leela's Acqua, fitted with
discotheque and private cigar lounges equipped with
humidors, Taj Exotica's Adega Camoens featuring live
music every weeknights with Rock Your Blues disco bar
of Taj Village at North Goa and Club Titos near Baga
Beach.

Goa - an astonishing mix of traditional and
contemporary element has always kept a happy balance
between its cultural heritage and allowed new impulse
to burst out into colours with merry making events
packed with revelry and splendour.

Meanwhile, the colour of fun filled in vivid
effervescence, hues the festivities that are being
decked-out for thousands of domestic and overseas
tourists in Goa unbolting right away.

- Forwarded by www.goa-world.net

=====
Gulf-Goans e-Newsletter since 1994 is moderated by Almeida Gaspar
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