Goa Carnival: dates, parades and how to see it well

Carnival runs for four days, from the Saturday before Ash Wednesday to Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday. Because Ash Wednesday depends on the date of Easter, Carnival moves each year, falling anywhere from early February to early March. The parade schedule, with the day each town holds its procession, is announced by the state a few weeks beforehand, and the order of towns can change from year to year; check current status before you travel.

Plan to arrive a day before the Saturday, so you are rested for the opening parade, and stay at least three nights. If you have more time, the days after Carnival are quiet, and the beaches empty out before the March heat.

Every Carnival is led by King Momo, a figure drawn from the mythical lord of revelry in Latin carnival tradition. Each year a local personality is chosen to play him, and on the opening day he arrives in Panjim, often on a decorated float, to read a decree ordering the people to eat, drink and be merry for the duration of the festival. The decree is traditionally read in Konkani and is full of local humour.

Behind King Momo comes the parade. Floats are built over weeks by village groups, clubs, schools and businesses, and they range from satirical takes on current events to scenes of Goan village life, Portuguese history and fantasy. Between them march brass bands, dance troupes, stilt walkers and groups in matching costumes. The floats are judged, and the prize money is keenly contested. A Panjim parade lasts two to three hours.

The Panjim parade usually follows the riverside road along the Mandovi, the Dayanand Bandodkar Marg, past the Old Secretariat and toward Miramar. Crowds build along the route from early afternoon, and the best kerbside spots are taken an hour or more before the start. Stands and seating are sometimes put up along parts of the route.

For our guests, we try to secure either a reserved seat in a stand, a balcony or first-floor terrace in a building along the route, or a restaurant table with a view. This lets you see the floats properly, have shade and a drink, and leave easily. Availability differs each year, so we book as soon as dates are known. Your guide stays with you and your driver waits on a side street to collect you.

• Arrive at your viewing spot at least an hour before the parade
• Carry water, a hat and a small amount of cash
• Leave valuables at the hotel; crowds are dense
• Agree a meeting point with your group in case you are separated

Carnival is more than one afternoon. In the evenings, Panjim's squares and riverfront fill with music, food stalls and dancing, and bars and restaurants in the old quarters are busy until late. Some clubs and associations hold formal balls; the long-running Red and Black Dance in Panjim, where guests dress in those two colours, is the best known. Tickets are sold locally, and we can try to obtain them.

In the villages, older customs survive in smaller ways: musical performances, local feasts and, in some places, the practice of khell, a form of folk theatre performed in Konkani during the Carnival days. A good guide can help you find these, which are often more rewarding than the big town parades.

Carnival is one of the best photography days of the Goan year, but the conditions are challenging. Parades start in the strong light of mid-afternoon and end at dusk, so the best pictures often come in the last hour, when the sun is low and the floats are lit from the side. A raised position, such as a terrace or a stand, gives you clean views over the heads of the crowd and lets you frame whole floats against the river.

At street level, a short zoom lens is more useful than a long one; dancers and musicians pass within a metre or two. Most performers are happy to be photographed and many will pose, but ask before taking close portraits of children in the crowd. Keep your camera strap around your wrist or neck, carry a spare battery, and protect equipment from the coloured powder and water that are sometimes thrown in the evening street parties.

Early on the morning after, the floats are often parked in side streets near the route before being taken apart, and they can be photographed at leisure without the crowds.

Visitors sometimes confuse Carnival with Shigmo, Goa's Hindu spring festival, which follows a few weeks later in March. Shigmo is older and rooted in village ritual, with dhol and tasha drums, folk dances such as ghode modni, the horse dance, and float parades showing scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Its town parades are spread over about two weeks.

The two make a good pair. Carnival shows the Catholic, Portuguese side of Goa at play; Shigmo shows the Hindu, Konkani side. A late February to mid-March trip can catch the end of one and the start of the other, though March afternoons are hot.

Stay close to Panjim for the opening parade. Cidade de Goa at Vainguinim is about 15 minutes from the route and gives you a quiet cove to return to. Taj Fort Aguada and Ahilya by the Sea, across the Mandovi, are 30 minutes away, and Candolim is convenient for the Mapusa parade. For Margao's parade, the south Goa resorts, Taj Exotica, Alila Diwa and The Leela Goa, are 15 to 30 minutes away.

Rooms in Panjim and the north book out for Carnival weekend, and some hotels set minimum stays. We recommend booking four months ahead. Roads around the parade route close from early afternoon, so your driver will plan the approach. The mornings after the parades are perfect for Fontainhas and Old Goa, which are quiet while the city sleeps in.