PANAJI
True to Deputy Chief Minister Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar's laughter-evoking quip "the show must go on" in the recently concluded winter session of the Goa legislative Assembly, the State government on Wednesday decided to go ahead with the traditional carnival celebrations this year.
However, instead of multiple city and town venues, the celebrations including the traditional float parade will be restricted to only two venues -- Panaji and Margao -- on February 13 and 14.
Ajgaonkar told ‘The Goan’ that the decision to hold the famed Carnival festivities in the State was taken primarily to give the pandemic-impacted tourism industry a much needed boost.
"Both Carnival and Shigmo festivals have been traditionally organised every year by Tourism Goa. They are already on the global cultural tourism calendar. Therefore we decided to hold it this year too, to keep continuity and also give tourism a boost," Ajgaonkar who holds the tourism portfolio said.
He added, that the traditional float parade will be held only in two cities of Panaji and Margao and standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be formulated and strictly enforced.
There was uncertainty over the conduct of the famed Carnival this year owing to the pandemic restrictions.
In fact, Ajgaonkar had informed the House when the issue came up during a tourism related discussion that the State government was still undecided on whether to conduct the famous Carnival float parade or not.
Now, much as Ajgaonkar laughter-evoking 'the show must go on' quip while being grilled in the House for a nearly Rs 40-crore spend on tourism promotional activity despite the pandemic, the Carnival show will indeed go on.
