Panaji: Thousands thronged the capital on Saturday for the opening of Goa’s traditional Carnival festival, with chief minister Pramod Sawant underscoring the state’s commitment to diversifying its tourism offerings through both cultural celebrations and major sporting events.“Carnival plays an important role in promoting Goa as a tourism destination. Being a tourism state, Carnival is important for us as a lot of Goans and domestic and international tourists come for it. Cultural promotion is important for tourism,” Sawant said during the inauguration of the festival in the state capital.In a significant announcement for sports tourism, Sawant also revealed the state’s ambition to host Formula 1 races in the future, with Formula 4 races scheduled to begin on Sunday as a stepping stone towards that aim. “This is the first time we are conducting Formula 4 races in Goa. The races are being held in Goa to promote sports tourism because in the future Formula 1 should come to Goa and this is just a trial; there is no hesitation in saying this,” Sawant said.Tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said that Carnival is a major festival of the state which began in 1965 and grew in stature since then. “In the last 4 years we ensured that we focus on tradition so that truly we can see the culture, heritage and tradition of Goa. I request people to be responsible and enjoy,” Khaunte said.The 4th round of the Formula 4 Indian Championship is being held this weekend at the Manohar International Airport, Mopa.Meanwhile, the state also kicked off the Carnival, a four-day festival of revelry, which concludes a day before Ash Wednesday. The Carnival fever drew massive crowds to witness colourful floats, raucous scenes and outlandish costumes. However, the celebrations also brought traffic snarls throughout the capital’s internal roads during the second half of the day.Delays marred the festivities, with the parade beginning after 5 pm despite a scheduled 3:30 pm start. “They said that it would start at 3:30 but the parade began after 5 pm. What kind of organisation and preparation, I don’t know. The arrangements were not proper,” said Dattatrey Naik, a local resident.“You can’t start so late. You can’t keep people waiting so long. Before, it used to start at 4 pm. The floats did not reach the market area even at 6 pm,” said Ian D’Costa, who came to see the floats.Despite the delays, participants expressed enthusiasm about the turnout. “Seeing the welcome from the people in Panaji, I was overjoyed. Senior citizens from Panaji came and supported us. Goa’s Carnival will soon be the number 1 festival. There are foreigners, domestic tourists, youth and locals here who came to celebrate Carnival,” said Pele, a fisherman from Benaulim.Most floats showcased the Goan way of life, focusing on traditional occupations, local fruits and vegetables, and the state’s rich heritage. However, environmental messaging also featured prominently, with youth from Calangute highlighting the need to protect tree cover, while another float emphasised the danger of plastic to ocean flora and fauna.
