Goa Carnival Parade Route to Change this year and There will be Cut down in the Numbers of Commercial Floats

Goa Tourism organizes the Carnival Parade every year in Panaji to mark the rule of King Momo over Goa for the four days. During these four days, Goans get into the mood of holiday and merrymaking. Tourists from all over the world come to witness the Carnival in Goa and GTDC always takes this opportunity to promote the tourism of Goa to people coming from all over the world. Every year the floats take its existing route which starts at the old Secretariat and ends in Campal but this year there is the possibility of change in the route for the float parade, said the sources in GTDC.

According to the sources in GTDC, The Department of Tourism is gearing up for Goa Carnaval 2017 to be held from February 25-28, with a big focus on cultural and traditional aspects of Goa. This time Goa Tourism is going to seriously cut down the number of commercial floats in the carnival celebrations and focus more on the traditional floats. The sources in GTDC have said that the Carnival is losing its charm due to the increase in rampant commercialisation.      

A high-level meeting was chaired by Tourism Minister, Mr. Dilip Parulekar with all other agencies assisting in the conduct of the four-day Carnival event to be held in the month of February. Carnaval 2017 will be held in Goa between February 25-28, 2017. Float parades in the four major cities will be held as follows:  Panjim on 25th February,  Margao on 26th February, Vasco on 27th February and Mapusa on  28th  February, said the sources. As far as the float parades in the minor cities are concerned, the parade in Ponda will be held on 28th February.  The dates for float parades in Shiroda and Curchorem will be finalized on the later dates, said the sources.

According to the sources, there is a possibility of change in the Carnival route from existing Old Secretariat to Campal to the new route which will start from Miramar circle and end at Dona-Paula. A new route is being considered for the Panjim Carnaval float parade which will be held on 25th February 2017. This decision will be finalized after taking the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) into confidence. An event management agency will be appointed to organize, manage and co-ordinate the float parade in Panjim and will also assist other local committees at other centers, said the sources.  

The selection of King Momo will be carried out through the usual process. the discussions, it was mooted that carnival committees encourage participants to include more cultural aspects and minimize commercialisation of floats. It has also been decided that polluting vehicles in the junk car category would not be allowed in the parade. Screening committees would be empowered to decide on the participation of floats and ensure that participants maintain decorum.  Prize money for the float parades will be the same as last year.

All committees have been directed to submit details of their programs well in advance and take requisite permissions from the respective departments. Likewise, committees have been directed to take the assistance from the police and district administration for ensuring security arrangements at the events and parade routes. Standard entry forms for float parade participation will be uploaded shortly on the Department of Tourism website and participants can download the same and submit to the department accordingly.             

It was also informed that in the wake of assembly elections,  the constitution of Carnaval committees may be reconstituted with officials and committees should co-operate for smooth and effective organization of Carnaval in each of the respective centers.