Sao Joao Festival in Goa is one of the most ostentatious celebrations in Goa. This is one of the major festivals of the Catholic community here and is celebrated with great fervor in the honor of St. John the Baptist. The Sao Joao Festival in Goa takes place on 24th June every year and is a pompous occasion. On this day the young locals in Goan villages get drunk and jump into wells in accordance to the existing custom of this festival. The revelers also consume lots of fruits on this day and are virtually unstoppable in their fun and frolic.
You will be delighted to see the local youth wearing crowns made up of leaves and varied fruits on their heads and going out in processions as they carry native Goan liquor along with them and jump into wells to have fun. Later on in the day, these young people indulge in a sumptuous feast of meat and seafood that marks the end of the festival. The rejoicing of these youth becomes all the more boisterous if it starts to rain.
The Sao Joao Festival in Goa is also marked by different types of folk dance performances or Mandos in the various villages, especially in Salcete taluka of Goa. These dance performances are popularly known as Sangodds and are a popular form of entertainment during this festival. A number of locals and tourists gather in the villages to see these folk dances. On this occasion, friends and relatives exchange fruits and other edibles as a part of the ceremony.
Another popular tradition related to Sao Joao Festival in Goa is the ritual of exchanging pleasantries and food items between any family that owns a well and has a newly married girl. This custom is widely prevalent in all the Goan villages and sees a number of edibles and material gifts being exchanged between the girl’s family and her in laws’ house. The newly wed sons-in-law are invited to their mothers-in-law's house to celebrate this festival and the newly wed daughters are presented with a basket full of fruits like jackfruits, mangoes, pineapples, apples, grapes etc.
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