Fairs and Festivals in Goa

The city of Goa is one of the few states that celebrates huge amount of festivals as there are many religions that are being observed by the people of Goa. These festivals have great significance on the life of the people that follow these religions.

Does this festival have any effect on the tourists, or does these festivals have any effect on the daily activities? More importantly how many festivals does Goa celebrate and which is the best time to visit Goa to enjoy the festival season?

Top 15 Famous Festivals to Celebrate in Goa

1. Christmas

Since Goa was once a Portugal colony which has nice ties with the Vatican city’s pope and to the Catholic Church, the state of Goa observes one of the best Christmas celebrations all over the world.

A great deal of fancy hotels organizes a Christmas meals that can be enjoyed by the people and tourists alike at a reasonable price depending upon hotel to hotel. There are some nightclubs which organize a Christmas parties whereas certain groups enjoy a nice bon fire.

2. Diwali

The festival of light is one of the most enjoyed festivals in Goa where all the houses are lit with fancy lights and lot of candles and diyas as lit on the auspicious occasions. People are often seen celebrating and wishing each other Diwali with exchanges of gifts.

Diwali is the time when people defeat their inner demons and a lot of people burn Narakasura in the hope to become a better person. This event is celebrated all across the goa and people witness to fire up the bad parts of their life and focus on the happiness.

3. Ganesh Chaturthi

For the real essence and celebration of the festival devoted to lord Ganesh ji, it can be only found in the states like Goa which have a huge shoreline. People in Goa often take home the Ganesh idols and pray among them.

It is marked as the celebrations of the good beginning where people immerse the idol after two to few days. The idols are made up of clay and are as small as inches to as long as several foots depending upon the community and the household.

4. Feast of St. Francis Xavier

This festival is marked as the way to tribute the St. Francis Xavier of Navarre who founded the Society of Jesus. The devotes gather from 4 am in the morning to start a prayer when high mass is achieved by 10:30 am with the Auxiliary bishop of the Goa.

In fact, all the political figures who are Christina often visit this prayer and hope for a better future. There are small carnivals and some stalls where activities can be done from some eating to small games and much more.

5. Shimgo

It is one of the festivals celebrated by the native people of Goa. The main participants of this festival are the Hindu community during the spring season. The festival is celebrated for 5 day during the spring season.

The people indulge in dance and various other acts to enjoy the spring celebrations and the peace. The festival is celebrated to give respects to the Kamadeva, the god of love. In North India this festival is celebrated as Holi where people throw colors at each other.

6. Three King Feast

It is one of the most celebrated festival of the Christian community that happens for nearly 10 days. The festival is considered to protect the people from bad omens and is known as the protector of the people. The lady of the mount during the day is adorned with jewelries and portrays as the virgin Mary.

The people from all over the place seeks her blessing. The festival is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on January 6th. Even the Hindus pilgrim visit the festival this site and offer their prayers to the three kings.

7. Sao Joao Festival

It is another festival celebrated by the Christians in which all the Christian swim in the tube wells. This tradition is done to pay respect to the Baptist St. John, hence swimming in tube wells. It is done on 24th of June each year. It is immensely popular in the region of the North Goa and is the festival celebrated by people singing the Sao Joao song and taking parades. The Northern part of the Goa is an eccentric place to be at that time and tourists of any religion can take part in the parades.

8. Goa Sunburn Festival

It is one of the biggest music festival that is celebrated in the state of Goa during the Last week of the year and just after the Christmas. Some of the world-renowned artists and performer are invited and the three days and nights are the most enjoyable.

Some of the greatest music artist like Afrojack, Above and Beyond, Dimitri Vegas and great deal of singers come to this top ranked festival every year. The Sunburn is ranked among the top 10 music festivals and it is best enjoyed in Goa where a huge crowd gathers to listen to some of the greatest music performers.

9. Goa Carnival

This carnival is observed as one of the greatest carnivals worldwide and often attracts a great number of tourists from the all across the India and sometimes all across the world. It is one of the methods to which was used by the ancient Greece and Rome to enjoy and socialize.

Now it is still able to do wonders as it is one of the most enjoyable festival in India for any age group and any kind of tourist from leisure, to couples and business class.

Read more about Goa Carnival

10. Bonderam Festival

This festival is celebrated in the month of August to celebrate the peace and avoid further disrupts were caused by the foreign interventions. The festival cherishes the memory of the brave people who protested against the irregular and bad methods to seize lands and distribute them among themselves. The major celebration takes place at an island located 12 kms away from the capital of Goa.

11. New Year eve

One of the best place to celebrate the new year eve is the state of Goa as it has some of the best parties and it is one of the most celebrated festival by all the communities and the people. There are a lot of beach parties as well as some fancy bon fire parties where tourists and local people alike dance and party around a huge bon fire. This is the time when people make some commitments and resolutions to follow in the upcoming year.

12. Grape Escapade

This festival is dedicated to the wine production in Goa and is administered by the Goa tourism department. In this festival a huge feast is organized where some of the best wines are consumed with some of the best food is eaten. The festival lasts for four days and some of the international clients like hoteliers, brand ambassadors and various others come here to taste the exquisite wines.

13. Goa Food and Cultural Festival

This festival is celebrated the food and some of the budding artists like dancers, painters, musicians and many more. It is celebrated in the month of May where stalls of some of the greatest artists and performers are laid out.

The stalls are laid out are great in number where national level performers from all over the India come as well. The objective of this festival by the tourism department of the Goa is to give the artists a stage as well as the deserving recognition.

14. Goa Mango Festival

The festival has the objective to celebrate the onset of the mango season. Since, a lot of mangoes are grown, and a plantation happens to be in Goa it is one of the most celebrated festival.

Mango is one of the most liked fruit and it is often known to be one of the pleasurable and the tastiest fruit where one can enjoy the sweetness and the nectar of it. It is one of the most auspicious occasion for the food lovers in particular the mango lovers.

15. Holi

Holi is one of the most celebrated festival of India where thousands of people gather on the streets. There are colors thrown everywhere as people try to enjoy the festivals by coloring others.

The people night before the Holi gather into hundreds and sing songs and dance in their folk style. It is one of the most prominent festival of the Hindu community and is celebrated by all the people in India of any community.

These festivals are some of the prominent festivals of the India where a lot of people gather and take the opportunity to celebrate the happiness and peace in their life.

The major objective of these festivals is to increase the happiness in life of people, make peace with everyone and move past their inner demons to become a better person than they were before. It’s a great opportunity for the people enjoy a moment in their life and appreciate the great things around them.