One
of the much anticipated annual festivals in Goa is the three-day
Konkan Fruit Festival which is
in its 12th year. Organised by the
Botanical Society of Goa in collaboration with the Corporation of the
City of Panjim and partnering with the Goa Tourism Development
Corporation (GTDC), for the first time, the festival will be held
from April 22 to 24, 2016 at the Campal promenade, Panjim.
Every year, the festival offers a varied array of locally grown fruits from different parts of Goa, which leaves the audience amazed. This year's theme is ‘Lesser Known Fruit’ which will focus fruits such as the Rose Apple and berries of all types (Charam, Bheddsam, Churna, Kanttam, Kaneram, Mulberry, etc) besides the more popular fruits of Goa like mango, kokum and jackfruit.
“The festival is usually held in May but this year, we intentionally got the festival organised earlier so we could feature these fruits which are usually out of season by the month of May. I had never tasted Charam before, and was very happy to eat this fruit. They will be available for tasting at the festival as we have asked local vendors from the interiors of Goa to be part of the festival,” says Miguel Braganza, Secretary, Botanical Society of Goa.
Over the years, the festival has become very popular and it has been catching the attention of various organisations from other parts of the country. The University of Horticultural Sciences (Bagalkot), the DBS Konkan Krishi Vidyapeet (Dapoli), the University of Agricultural Sciences (Dharwar and Bengaluru), the ICAR-CCARI (Ela-Goa), the Directorate of Agriculture and other organisations will participate in this festival.
With the objective to learn about, discover and taste the unique fruits varieties, the festival will be grander this year. “This year, the trained student volunteers of the newly established Don Bosco College of Agriculture, Sulcorna-Quepem will be part of the festival and will be guiding the viewers. We had conducted a survey of the trees in Panjim and a book on the study of birds and trees by Syngenta company will be released with posters and feedback forms. We have around 5,000 tall grown trees with us and we are hoping to plant them around Panjim city itself. At the festival, we will ask the residents of Panjim about which trees – fruit or flower bearing – would they like planted along their streets, leading up to their homes,” says Miguel.
Though access to the festival is free for all, one can support the festival by buying a coupon. “We have been requesting donation fees from the attendees since 2013 but it has not caught on. With nearly 40,000 people visiting the festival, the community can help promote the festival,” adds Miguel.
Besides the 26 stalls and various competitions being held, there will be educational workshops, discussions, demonstrations and even live music to make the visit even more memorable. Daniel D'Souza will explain the art of making bonsai followed by the Friday Balcao discussion on ‘To be In Goa Today......and Tomorrow?’ with Alexyz, Goa's renowned cartoonist on April 22, 2016 from 5pm onwards. On April 23, 2016, Thai artist Taeng Orn Silva will share the secrets of Thai fruit carving from 5:30pm onwards, followed by the performance by National Street Performers Association.