The monsoon which had played hide-and-seek all these years on June 24, this year decided to lash out in full fury, thus blessing Goans with a drop in temperatures and a fantastic ambience, in keeping with the theme of Sao Joao.

This year the rain drenched revellers at Ancestral Goa, Big Foot, Lotoulim who skipped and jumped accompanied to music. Decked with colourful floral crowns known as ‘kopel’ in Konkani, all got to taste lip smacking traditional delicacies, like ‘godshe’, ‘biknache pinaque’, ‘pattoleo’, ‘folle’, ‘shevio’, ‘ponsachi Bakri’, ‘fotkhote’ and a little shot of Feni – which was earlier had to retain the body heat.
‘Pez’ was served in ‘kotio’ (coconut shells) and eaten with roasted ‘Ponsachi Bikna’. This eco-friendly festival celebrated in a way was a platform to give thanks to Mother Nature.
The difference this year at the celebrations at Big Foot was that the traditional foods, sweets and ‘kopels’ were prepared on-site for the benefit of the visitors – national and international.
Having begun at 10 a.m. the festivities reached a peak of merriment at one in the afternoon. Displaying tradition and actually partaking in it are two different things. It was therefore very charming to watch visitors relish the freshly prepared food, as they absorbed a rich tradition of Goa.