Catholic Religious Feasts

After the 40 days of lent begins the celebrations of various feasts in honor of the patron or other saints of the churches and chapels. The month of may is a favored month for such festivities. Many villages have feasts celebrated on Sundays in the month of May. Some feasts were also celebrated on week days, according to the Roman Catholic calendar.

The feast is preceded by the nine days novenas and especially in the village the preparatory days and the feast day was an occasion for rejoicing and meeting relatives and friends who were away during the year. On the feast day the brass band plays the Alvarado early at five in the morning. The band winds its way from the church through the village or city playing a special rendition called Alvarado which literally means dawn.

However the fairs of the feasts celebrated before the arrival of monsoons which includes the feast of Accession of Jesus, in Panjim, Holy cross in Santa Cruz and of Holy Spirit in Margao that a much bigger fair was put up. Since the feast are celebrated in the month of May, things required for use during the ensuing monsoon months were available for sale.