Crafts Map of Goa

Festive Traditions

Carnival is a non-stop festival of colour, song, dance and music. This festival brings out the true exuberance of the people of this land. It takes place in February-March and marks the beginning of Lent or period of abstinence. Traditionally, Christians give up meat during Lent. The Tuesday night before Ash Wednesday, they partake of a feast that is celebrated as Carnival, (carne meaning meat in Latin).

Shigmo is the full-moon pre-Vedic festival that brings the old months of winter to a close and heralds the days of spring. It is a festival that requires mass participation, with people bombing one another with balls filled with colour and water balloons.

Bonderam is held on the river island of Divar on the 4th Saturday of the month of August. Bonderam means the festival of flags. Its high point is a mock battle to commemorate the property wars the took place here over a century ago.

Sao Joao celebrates the east of St. John the Baptist with a fervour that matches the fury of the monsoon. The men of the community partake in this celebration by going around their respective villages with wreaths on their heads and by jumping into every well to commemorate the leap of the Saint in his mother's womb.