Notes from Mandrem Carnival 2025

Carnival on Ashwem Beach road. The night before, Sukhbir had performed on the village ground, temporarily displacing the wobbling novices learning to ride their rented scooters in what is usually a demilitarised zone.

Tonight, the traffic is different. Soundtracked by Latin Samba and Konkan ballads, EDM, then trap, King Momo and basket weavers parade down the street. Zombies and the Armed Services. Fisherfolk and custom automobile-modifiers; Catholic and Hindu, brown and white.

A festival without context is just a party, but this one is strangely touching. Eastern Europeans vogue down the street, tipsy and benevolent, mingling with Goans who don’t qualify as quite local, watched by Northeastern busboys live-streaming on Facebook.

Not every Mandrekar was born here, but what do the foreigners know of this celebration’s raison d’être? Are they Catholic enough to be preparing for Lent, to pre-indulge for the privations to come? Or is this just a welcome accompaniment to the usual midweek drinking?

I don’t think it matters.

The prevailing feeling is of sweaty acceptance, deep and now traditional, passed down by generations of Goan innkeepers, landlords, bartenders, and restaurateurs. This culture was borne of supply and demand, yin and yang, balance and interchange between the atmospheric and economic needs of Konkan villagers and Ukrainian holidaymakers turned asylum-seekers.

In 2025, Goa’s patience is fraying, the tension between insiders and outsiders growing every day, intensified by the constant jostle for real estate – land and road, settlement property and unoccupied asphalt, the rarest commodities.

But this carnival is a temporary rebuke to the swelling frustration, acceptance briefly manifesting once again. Each float is a visual reminder of Goa’s astonishing diversity, the sheer magnitude of culture compressed into these 3,702 square kilometres, between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. 

It’s moving – to see Goa’s culture made tangible, digestible to the average tourist, the party inclusive, the vibes unpretentious.

Amidst this throng, I feel at home.

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