The Goan Chaplaincy Swindon Team hosted its second Carol presentation on December 17 to bring together Goan communities across the UK to share the festive spirit and to put on display the Christmas message of peace, unity, and brotherhood. About 500 people attended the event.
The uniqueness of the event was that each group was permitted to sing a maximum of three carols, of which at least two had to be in Konkani.
Carols were performed by different Goan communities and guest performers, while there was also a nativity character competition and a star competition.
The groups on show for the day had come from Swindon, Wembley, Reading, Mitcham, Hounslow, Hayes, Maidenhead and Heathrow/Cranford.
The guest performers consisted of the young and the old, with the youngest performer being Eric, an up-and-coming singer who performed his original Christmas song. Joseyna mesmerised the crowd after they had found that she was blind and were left impressed with her rendition of a Spanish, English and Konkani song.
The other guest performers were well-known people who have been in the Konkani Drama scene for several years such as Agnel Vaz, who performed his original song Tempa Pormonem. Matthias Sequeira, a drummer with a band which is well-known for playing in tiatrs for the last 18 years, did a rendition of an Alfred Rose song and there was another performance by Luis Bachan, who has left the young and old always crying with laughter.
The competitions were well attended as several children dressed up as different Nativity characters such as Stars, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Wise Men and Baby Jesus. There was also a large collection of different stars put on display. There were cash prizes for these contests and the raffle, prizes consisted of a TV, Airpods, Soundbar (donated by an attendee).
The event as a whole was a success, and people described the event as one which had a “Goan feeling” and compared it to festivities in Goa around Christmas.
Fr Feroz Fernandes, who was the chief guest, invited the audience to remember two words during Christmas and New Year 2023.
“Christmas and New Year is a time of new possibilities and opportunities. It is new possibilities for health, happiness and holiness. It is a time to provide new opportunities to love and be loved,” said Fr Fernandes.
In his address, Fr Rodrigues said the Carol presentation was yet another venture to promote Goan tradition and culture in the UK.
He expressed his gratitude to Fr Patrick, Fr Mark, Fr Francis and Fr Feroz for their presence and help, while also appreciating his Swindon Youth Core team, the Swindon Goan Chaplaincy prayer group and Chaplaincy team.
