The Grape Escapade is being hailed as the best ever in terms of attendance, operations, flow and offerings. Over 50000 people will experience a blend of fine wine, lifestyle, haute cuisine and entertainment over 4 days.
Apart from being the only festival of its kind in Goa, the Grape Escapade is also touted to be the most enjoyable festival to date.
The festival brings together restaurateurs, hoteliers, wineries and lifestyle brands, all under one roof. While live music and entertainment sets the tone for the evening, wine tasting sessions by an accomplished sommelier and food connoisseur will be conducted.
Adding to the vibrancy, are special variety entertainment acts, jazz sessions, fashion shows and a beauty contest.
More than 20 wineries will pour wines, while around 15 restaurants and catering companies will offer a bounty of gourmet food classics, including barbecues, pasta, oriental cuisine and other delicacies. Vegetarian options, chicken, and meat dishes will also be available, as will a bevy of luscious sweet treats.
In addition to wine, food and art, the festival has an elaborate stage set-up with a variety of musical entertainment, which features some of the best local performers in blues, jazz, world beat, as well as dance and other non-musical performances.
The festival also adds economic value to Goa every year as it brings together restauranteurs, wineries, hospitality and lifestyle players.
The Grape Stomping, which is a tradition at the festival, is a source of much delight and fun for the visitors and is an intrinsic part of the festival this year as well.
The festival is organized and supported each year by Goa Tourism.
This feast is celebrated at the unusually named Our Lady of The Snows Church at Raia near the town of Margao in Salcete taluka. The feast is known locally as Konsachem Fest after the sheaves (konsa) of rice harvest which are cut at the time of the celebration.
Raia is a small village on the outskirts of Margao. The local church here, also known as the Raia Church is the scene of this feast which draws hundreds of Hindu and Christian devotees from all round the state.
The Church has a sickle which is said to have been specially sent across to Goa, by the Pope in Portuguese times. The local parish priest cuts the first sheaves of the season's rice harvest from the nearby fields.
He also gives blessings for a rich harvest for future seasons and the sheaves are then distributed among the devotees present. These are then used by the devotees to prepare some rice dish at their home.
The feast is also celebrated with all pomp and splendour at the Taleigao church near Panaji. Here some of the sheaves which are cut by the local priest are also sent to the Governor of Goa and the Archbishop of Goa Diocese as a symbol of love, good wishes and prosperity. On this day as per tradition, a football tournament is held at the local grounds among the clubs of the surrounding areas.
Goa is a land of varied festivals and events. To taste the real flavor of Goa, you should visit the state during the days when the food and cultural festival is celebrated in the state. The food and cultural festival in Goa is celebrated annually over a period of 5 days and offers an excellent insight into the culture of Goa.
Goa is known widely for its variety of inventive and mouth watering culinary specialties that satisfy the tastes of tourists from all parts of the globe. The Goan cuisines are a delicate combination of western and authentic Indian culinary traditions. If you are a person who enjoys seafood, the food and cultural festival of Goa will be an ideal time to plan your Goa vacation. Fresh catches from the sea are presented in the form of various tantalizing preparations. Also enjoy a wide range of meat and vegetarian delicacies that will leave you craving for more.
Everyone from housewives to large hotels take part in the food and culture festival of Goa. Most of the festivities are held on the popular beaches of Goa. A number of stalls are set up by the participating individuals including master chefs from hotels as well as locals competing with each other to offer a range of excellent seafood and other preparations. The stalls are financed through sponsorship raised commercially. Locals and tourists from all parts of the state make it a point to attend this festival to enjoy the seafood specialties as well as other mouthwatering delicacies.
In general there is a lot of partying and merrymaking that goes on alongside the gorging. Tourists are also treated to various cultural programs that are organized to pull in the crowds in hordes.
Other attractions include spectacular firework shows that are lit in the evenings to fill the sky with beautiful designs that you can enjoy as you sip on your favorite wine or beverage and munch on a tasty snack along with your family and friends.
The port town of Vasco is the scene of perhaps the biggest festival in Goa in terms of sheer number of vendor stalls, the crowds and the duration of its celebration. The Saptah is celebrated in the month of Shravan as per Hindu Calendar, is the only big festival in Vasco.
The word Saptah literally means seven days and the festival actually lasts for a week, although the stalls selling various items linger on for more than fifteen days. The festival which is more than a hundred years old, is celebrated in the temple of Lord Damodar in the centre of the city
Legend has it that in 1898 there was a cholera or plague epidemic in the city. With the health facilities at the time being quite poor, the local residents turned to Lord Damodar, an incarnation of Lord Shiva for help.
The residents of Vasco went to Zambaulim temple (near Margao) of Lord Damodar and brought a coconut as prasad to be installed for worship in Vasco. The initial installation was at the Old Mata High School.
As luck would have it, their prayers were successful and the epidemic died out once the worship began.
A leading business of the time, donated a part of his residence premises to install the idol of Lord Damodar. This make-shift temple is the centre of the celebrations and remains attached to the original house even today.
The Saptah starts with the main pooja being offered at the Old Mata High School, from where the anointed coconut is taken out in a procession to the Lord Damodar temple. The coconut used for the previous year is taken in a procession around the city and then released in the sea at Kharewada.
A specially selected person carries the sacred coconut. Along with him, a troupe of dancers goes around the city visiting the residences of prominent citizens. The performance of the troupe is called as Gopalkala by the locals and is a sight to behold in the pouring rain. The dancers are also drenched by water thrown by the people from the houses they visit.
After the immersion of the old coconut, the people return to the temple and anoint a new coconut amidst singing of bhajans (devotional songs). The bhajans continue uninterrupted for 24 hours.
A glittering ceremony takes place at night with specially decorated tableaux coming from various wards of the port town. These are known as 'pars'. People come here from all over the state to watch the parade.
There is also a cultural programme at night with devotional songs for which well known artistes perform.
The temple is located on the main avenue of the city, the Swatantra Path, and the biggest crowds are seen here. Consequently, the entire main road is closed for traffic for the seven days of celebration.
All along the roads and by lanes of the city of Vasco, the vendors put up their make-shift stalls. The vendors come from all over India to sell everything from trinkets and toys to furniture and the latest in fashion.
The usually drab and sedate port-town wears a festive look with gay decorations and huge, noisy crowds visiting the temple and the stalls throughout the week. Cultural programmes are also held during the weeklong festival.
The Cumbarjua canal comes alive with music, crackers and nearly 20 floats on boat.The ocasion is traditional "Sangodds", on which people of Marcel and Cumbarjua take their Ganesh idols for immersion in the river on boats tied together and decorated with floats depicting mythological events and popular scenes.
The boats take seven rounds in the river.People coming from all over Goa, watch from both picturesque banks. The bridge of Cumbarjua Canal, connecting the villages of Marcel and Cumbarjua also gets packed with crowds.
The major float comes from the tempel village of marcel, and until it arrives, the ceremonies cannot begin at Cumbarjua.
This is one of the Christian celebrations, observed in sincere reverence by the Goan Catholics. It takes place at the end of the period of Lent which lasts for 40 days in February and March, beginning with Ash Wednesday. Good Friday is followed by Easter Sunday.
A special mass and procession take place in almost every church in Goa, but the best celebration takes place in the capital city of Panaji
The most spectacular celebration which takes place in Panaji, is in the square of the Church of Mary Immaculate Conception. Large crowds in formal clothes, gather in the square to participate in the mass and the Way of the Cross.
The priests celebrate the mass in Konkani, describing the sufferings of Lord Jesus Christ. After the mass, the special crucifix, which until this time has been kept from view, is now uncovered before the crowd for veneration.
The ceremony of the Way of the Cross takes place as a re-enactment of the path Jesus took on Mount Calvary before the Crucifixion. An image of Jesus carrying the large wooden cross is taken in a procession from the Mary Immaculate Church premises, through the nearby streets by the clergymen dressed in special clothes.
The people follow the procession in two parallel lines, in front and behind the statue. The solemn procession is watched by hundreds of onlookers, Hindu and Christian standing at the roadside.
A band playing suitably somber music accompanies the procession which slowly winds its way through the main streets in Panaji before returning to the church.
St. Francis Xavier, referred to as "Goencho Saib" (Lord of Goa) by Goans, is the Patron Saint of Goa. The Feast of St. Francis Xavier is a feast held every year on the 3rd of December - the day he was buried - after nine days of prayer, called the Novena. The Feast of St. Francis Xavier hosts a variety of ceremonies to honor the Saint's death. The silver chest containing the relics of the Saint is kept at the Cathedral for the veneration and kissing of devotees for he exposition.
Over 2 lakhs devotees from across the country as well as overseas attend the Feast, which has a Pontifical Mass executed by a congregation of superior clergy.
The whole set-up is changed overnight during the yearly novenas and Feast of St. Francis Xavier. Pilgrims come together on the Born Jesus Basilica from far-away Kerala and Tamil Nadu, from neighboring Karnataka and Maharashtra, as well as from the most distant corners of the Peninsula, and even from distant countries. The crowd reaches its zenith on the Feast day when all the roads in Goa lead to the Basilica. Thousands of people assemble to Old Goa on the occasion of the Feast on St. Francis Xavier and make a mock of the transport system that is provided disgustingly insufficient to cope with the rush. The gardens and wide open spaces that are generally deserted are, during these days, crowded with pilgrims symbolizing the whole mosaic of Indian races and religions. St. Francis Xavier is often conjured up by his followers for his curative powers.
