A medley of colours, folk dances, music, and float parades will light up several parts of Goa for this year’s Shigmo festival. The celebrations will begin on March 19 and go on until March 27, 2022. By Eshita Srinivas
Every year, around the month of March, Goa heralds the spring season, celebrates the rich harvest of paddy, and honours the return of local warriors who’d left their lands to fight invaders. Shigmotsav, or Shigmo as it is called in Konkani, is a tribal festival marked by multi-coloured flags, folk dances, and the reenactment of scenes from mythology. The colourful festival draws thousands of tourists from across the globe every year. However, festivities had to be toned down due to the pandemic over the past few years. That said, Goa Tourism recently released an updated itinerary of this year’s events, with float parades and other activities scheduled over five days.
Goa’s Shigmo festival 2022 will feature float parades in five towns
Your Goan holidays will be incomplete if you miss out on witnessing this enthralling #Shigmotsav2022 for an unforgettable experience.
So save the date for Shigmotsav 2022 and get a glimpse of Goa’s rich culture and traditions. pic.twitter.com/WpAmM0OwLl
— Goa Tourism (@TourismGoa) March 15, 2022
Festivities are expected, as they always do, to begin with Naman, the invocation of local folk deities on the village stage to the beats of percussion instruments. This is followed by float parades which depict mythological scenes through lofty figures of demons and other characters made by local craftsmen. The float parades for this year’s Shigmo festival, as per the official website of Goa tourism, will take place at these spots:
19th March in Ponda (South Goa)
20th March in Margao (South Goa)
22nd March in Vasco (South Goa)
26th March in Panjim (North Goa)
27th March in Mapusa (North Goa)
You can expect to see horse dances, lamp dances, phugadi (Goann folk dance), painted faces, colourful costumes, and a throng of people smearing each other’s faces with colours as a form of greeting. Many locals dress up in colourful outfits and wave colourful flags, artificial swords, and other props during the parade. Some dress up as yesteryear kings and soldiers.
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These parades will commence at 4:00 pm and conclude by 10:00 pm, as per an official release by the state government. Apart from these, certain cultural events are also reportedly in store for visitors. Strict COVID protocols will be followed.
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At the moment, Goa’s travel guidelines require all incoming passengers to either present proof of vaccination upon arrival or a negative RT-PCR test result taken not longer than 72 hours before the time of departure.
For more information, visit the official website, here.
Feature and hero image: Goa Tourism
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Written By
Eshita Srinivas
Eshita is a food, alcohol, travel, and entertainment writer who spends her days zeroing in on the next big trend to write about. She’s a communication graduate with bylines in Conde Nast Traveller India, GQ India, Deccan Herald, and Girls Buzz. When not at work, you’re likely to find her hunting for a good read or charting out the perfect itinerary ..Read More
