This year, Goa's carnival is going to the wards, villages, towns of Goa and also finding space on the global stage. Goa's village clubs and associations in countries where there is a substantial Goan expatriate population celebrate the feasts of their patrons back home, of the Goencho Saib and have the annual dance and picnic.
So what can stop them from holding a carnival float parade? Nothing. So, this year, carnival floats will trundle down the streets of Hounslow on the outskirts of London, brought to the public by the Goan group going by the name Amigos Nite.
So while the São Tome ward of Panjim is organising a parallel 'carnaval do povo' detaching carnival from the commercial enterprises, the residents of Porvorim and Benaulim will hold float parades for the first time, and the Goan variety of carnival will get its first breath of life in a country far from Goa – the United Kingdom which has more than a substantial Goan population.
Historically, Goa's carnival came about through the land's long colonial period brought here by the Portuguese. It was, as old-timers would stress, a festival of fun and frolic with spontaneity playing a big role.
It was groups of masqueraded youth roaming the streets, with indigo blue and cocotes; the former to colour their friends and acquaintances, the latter to engage in mock battles with groups of neighbouring wards.
Post-Liberation that changed, and King Momo entered the carnival scene bringing floats and organised parades. That was in the mid to late 1960s, and that's when carnival turned touristic and Goa got its present version of the festival – float parades, dances and live music.
Post-Liberation, King Momo entered the carnival scene bringing floats and organised parades. That was in the mid to late 1960s, and that's when carnival turned touristic and Goa got its present version of the festival – float parades, dances and live music.
Though in Goa, the village-level float parades have a distinct political angle, with the local politicians patronising the event in a big way, the UK parade is a manifestation of the local Goans who have made the United Kingdom their home.
So in 2023, as the world completely shrugs off the pandemic restrictions that had kept them chained, Goa's carnival goes extremely local and simultaneously global. It has become a festival that Goans want to identify with, whether they are living in the State or spread across the world.
There is a connection that binds Goans together and it seems to come through the unlikely event of a float parade led by a King Momo who, as the social media posts of the Goa Tourism department are glad to remind netizens, is of Greek origin.
So, as Goa's carnival goes to the United Kingdom, is Goa exporting its version of the festival to Europe, a festival that it at one time imported from Europe itself? It's almost as if carnival is now going full circle. It is necessary to differentiate between carnival in general and the Goan carnival.
The festival is now new to the United Kingdom but a float parade that mimics what passes off in Goa as carnival will definitely be a new addition – we can't yet say welcome as it will be the first year it is held – to the carnival in the United Kingdom.
Simultaneously, in Goa, there have been attempts at taking carnival back to its roots and the khell that was once an integral part of the festival has, in recent years, made that comeback. Though organised now and held only in certain places, the khell is part of the carnival as much as the float parardes are and is a lot more traditional and Goan than the floats can be.
Would then those Goans who will be organising carnival in the countries where they now live consider introducing the khell there too? The Konkani tiatr is already part of the repertoire of Goan entertainment in the Gulf, the United Kingdom and even a bit in Canada.
Giving khell such a place would definitely make it a truly Goan carnival in a foreign land, for the concept of floats and Kong Momo was borrowed from the Brazil carnival, when Goa’s first King Momo Timoteo Fernandes casually saw pictures of the Rio de Janeiro carnival in a magazine and decided to have a King Momo in Goa too. So he dressed as one and the rest is history.
Would then those Goans who will be organising carnival in the countries where they now live consider introducing the khell there too? The Konkani tiatr is already part of the repertoire of Goan entertainment in the Gulf, the United Kingdom and even a bit in Canada.
Can Goa return to intruz, as it is known in Konkani, with the khell that pokes fun at society which is truly a carnival, unlike the staid floats with jarring music that plays out on the streets? Intruz and khell are part of tradition and heritage with the floats coming into the picture and occupying the pride of place only much later. They too require to be given their place in the Goan carnival.
