Goa has always been a popular holiday destination for people from all over the world along with the rest of India. The former Portuguese colony with its rich culture and joie-de-vivre ambiance attracts the most number of tourists all through the year but even more so at Christmas time. in fact, there are so many people in the state at this time that it feels like everyone wants to hold their Christmas celebrations and New Year celebrations in Goa.
Everyone’s here for Goa’s Christmas celebrations
Christmas time is also when family and friends come home for all that the season has to offer. With its gorgeous beaches, fabulous nightlife, food, music, and fantastic weather, everyone wants to be here and who can blame them?
Christmas celebrations in Goa are more of a family affair. People go for midnight mass followed by which they usually celebrate Jesus’s birth with friends and family at house parties. There’s always a ton of mouthwatering food on the table and drinks and conversations flow with merriment and ease. Gifts are often exchanged after mass as well. Someone may turn up the volume on the music system or pick up a musical instrument and soon everyone is singing and dancing and just having a great time. Then there are those, mostly young people, that end up at a dance or at a pub for a few drinks with friends. These kinds of Christmas celebrations usually go on till early morning.
Christmas Day
The 25th of December is a day for breaking bread with the family. Sumptuous lunches are prepared and then there is always another table for an array of (usually) home-made Christmas sweets like Baath cake, Dodol, Bebinca, Nevryos, Marzipan sweets and more. It’s safe to say that all that food on Christmas day is enough to send the whole family into a food coma.
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s on the other hand, is a very loud affair. Yes, a lot of people prefer not to brave the crazy traffic in Goa, and usually end up having house parties or going to pubs that aren’t far from home. But for the tourists, it’s a completely different experience. The tourist belt from Baga to Candolim has a number of shacks for New Year’s Eve lining the beaches. These come alive on that night with every shack having its very own fireworks display. Anyone can go have dinner at the beach and partake in the festivities there. Of course, for the higher flying tourists, every club in the area has a party going on, which anyone can go to by paying an entry charge.
With something for everyone who comes to Goa for their Christmas celebrations and New Year, it’s no surprise that they choose our sunshine state for that very reason.
ItsGoa/DEC/KDGP
