Carnival takes off in Goa
pti, panaji | 13 February 2010 21:02 IST
Carnival parade led by King Momo
Around half a lakh people basked in the festivities for the first day of the Carnival festival in the capital city of Panaji today.
Floats, dancers and artists dressed in fancy clothes marched past Dayanand Bandodkar road along picturesque Mandovi River this evening.
Mark Dias, a bar tenderer working on a cruise ship, has been selected as a King Momo. He will lead all the float parades in the state this year.
The parade was flagged off by state chief minister Digamber Kamat in the presence of Tourism minister Fransisco Pacheco.
The Goa Tourism Development Corporation in association with local civic body - City of Corporation of Panaji (CCP) - had put up this annual parade. Around 50 groups participated.
Rest of the main cities will host the parade for the next three days.
The main float had King Momo on it which followed other creative floats. The state tourism department, which conceived this event as a major tourist attraction, sponsors the main float. It will go around the state for the next three days.
State tourism minister Pacheco said the event has been a big tourist attraction and is a unique even held only in Goa in the country. It has been marketed worldwide by the tourism department.
A strong posse of policemen was present along the road as the three hour long parade went on peacefully.
