Its D-day and Carnival 2018 is here! For the next four days, the streets of Goa will turn into one big party with parades happening in Panjim, Margao, Vasco, Ponda, Calangute and Mapusa. The Panjim Carnival parade is taking a different route this year. The committee received 48 entries for the float parade that takes place along the Miramar – Dona Paula road. The Carnival parade will move along this road with floats in such categories as traditional, institutional, family fun junk, clown joker and sponsored. According to the mayor of Panjim, Surendra Furtado, there will also be two floats from Brazil participating in the parade.
A change in the Carnival parade’s traditional route
With the change in the Carnival parade’s traditional route, people will have to make other arrangements to go and watch the same. In the days of the Portuguese, the Carnival parade used to take place in the Panjim Church square area. After many years, the route then changed to the main road, beginning from under the Mandovi bridges and moving along the road, ending near the Campal Health centre.
According to the Panjim mayor, this new route for the Carnival parade has been selected so that the traffic and business community in the city area, especially around Azad Maidan, is not disturbed.
Special buses have been arranged to ferry people back and forth from the KTC bus-stand till Miramar at no cost. The Hop-On Hop-Off buses have also been pressed into service for the same purpose. People wanting to see the Carnival parade can avail of these services.
On to the Samba Square at the Garcia de Orta
The Carnival committee is also organizing the Samba Square at the Garcia de Orta (Panjim Municipal Garden) for the duration of the festivities from 10th – 13th February. It all starts this evening from 6:30 pm onwards with a number of food stalls serving all kinds of yumminess. The traditional red and black dance on February 13 will be one of the highlights of the celebrations. A special kids’ zone with bouncy castles, trampoline, air mascots, games and other fun activities will be arranged at the Samba Square.
Information credit – TOI
ItsGoa/FEB/KDGP
