Carnival Revival in 1988

Many don’t even know that Carnival had reached a dead end in the years 1985 to 1987 when the Pastoral Committee at the Catholic Church gave out a call for boycott of the festivities since it was not Catholic in nature. The people stayed off the celebrations as a result, with 1985 being a Carnival with lukewarm response from the people, and with a total boycott in 1986 and 1987.The unique event that was conceptualized by us many years ago and which revived the Carnival in 1988. 'People's Carnival' as we called it, was about people of different walks of life participating in small groups of friends, family and relatives. No commercial floats were allowed, and themes that were close to the heart of Goa were encouraged. Whether it was the environment, or “No to Nudism” or “No to drugs and alchohol”....the themes were reminiscent of the themes that touched Goan hearts at that time, and which continue to haunt the Goan way of life to this day.