Celebrating life remains an integral part of the Goan culture and the villages have maintained the trend by celebrating various occasions. Popular for their united celebrations of various fests, the villagers in Socorro will once again gather at the church square as the much awaited yearly event - the three day celebrations of the twin festivals, Poderanchem fest and Zaddamcho Utsov will kick-start on September 30 this year with a bonanza of talks, workshops, live demonstrations, music and dance as well as sumptuous lunch of Goan delicacies like dosh, dodol, bebinca and cakes. Hosted by Socorro Socio-Art and Cultural Association along with Botanical Society of Goa, the fest will have 15 stalls selling things from varieties of bread to variety of plants to ghumots, all open from 9 am to 9 pm.
The festival will begin at 9 am with the registrations for the ghumot workshop wherein enthusiastic women and children will also be trained to play ghumot along with men. This one-hour long workshop beginning from 10 am will offer training in playing this traditional musical instrument that's a favourite in all festivals in Goa. The cultural programmes will be organised under the supervision of and guidance of freelance researcher, writer and expert in history, art and culture - Pandurang Phaldesai. This will follow by another workshop on ‘molla making' where the participants will be taught to weave coconut leaves into mats. Vera Pereira and Philo D'Souza will be the resource persons for this workshop that will continue for all three days. On the second day, the participants will be taught to weave palm leaves for decorative purpose. This special training will be offered by Suryakant Gaonkar.
The lunch ‘Goinchim Bashim' (The plate of Goa) will be served at 1 pm. The bread stalls will open at 5 pm. The cultural programmes also will begin at 5 pm onwards. At 6 pm there will be an open ghumot jamming session where the public along with those who have newly mastered the skill will play together.
On September 30, Bond Braganza, hailing from a family that's into baking for more than half a century, will share his experiences and knowledge on baking breads. Bond who's not only a baker, but a singer, a tiatrist, a teacher as well as a writer, has music CDs to his credit and a Konkani book. The parish priest of Socorro Fr Santana Carvalho will conduct this interview on the life of Bond. On Sunday, there will be a gardening workshop conducted by Goa Botanical Society's Miguel Braganza along with Ryan Mascarenhas from Don Bosco College of Agriculture, Sulcorna. Their volunteers' T.E.A.M. comprising of Priyanka Parab, Vrundan Parab, Elijah D'Souza and Vandit Naik will teach how to nurture potted plants.
On October 1, at 5 pm there will be a live demo on how to grow plants from seeds with Miguel Braganza followed by a Q & A session.
On October 2, at 5 pm there will be a talk on ‘The health benefits of coconut, especially the virgin coconut oil, by Sunetra Talaulikar, subject matter specialist (Home Science), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) complex, Old Goa.
THINGS TO LOOK
FORWARD TO
n The fest will have 15 stalls this year selling things from varieties of bread to variety of plants to ghumots, all open from 9 am to 9 pm.
n Ghumat workshop by Pandurang Phaldesai on September 30
n Molla making workshop where the participants will be taught to weave coconut leaves into mats by Vera Pereira, Philo D'Souza and Suryakant Gaonkar
n ‘Goinchim Bashim', a traditional Goan meal
n A talk by Bond Braganza on his experiences and knowledge on baking breads
n A gardening workshop conducted by Miguel Braganza and Ryan Mascarenhas
n A live demo on how to grow plants from seeds with Miguel Braganza
n A talk on ‘The health benefits of coconut' by Sunetra Talaulikar,
