Come Easter and people begin celebrating the resurrection of Christ. With the forty days of fasting and penance, Catholics round the world stay back a little from celebrations and parties throughout the season of lent; repenting for their wrongs and trying to engage themselves in doing good to their fellow neighbours and the community at large. Signifying new life and celebrating Joy this festival of Easter is the most important to Catholic Community recollecting the Passover stated in the Old testament of the Bible.
The state of Goa hosts a large number of Christian Catholics and houses celebrations round the year, Christmas and Easter being the significant ones. The villages in Goa have their own ways of celebrating the these festivals, with families meeting together and hosting a meal at home.
Ribandar, or the town of Ports as the locals call it, has a unique and beautiful way of celebrating the festival of Easter, getting the whole village of the Catholic and Non- Catholic communities together to celebrate and dine. What began as an initiative back in 1996 by the Parish youth as Easter Celebrations has now spread to build a fellowship among the village as a whole, uniting people from all walks of life.
The village is known to host a great number of musicians and stage artist, and on this day of ‘Easter Extravaganza” all meet up together to stage small shows throughout the event. Not forgetting the children and youth who also engage themselves in a long preparation of practices and rehearsals to stage a good show for the Easter event.
While the audience is also entertained with “Live Band” performances, people from the entire parish engage themselves into some kind of on-stage or off-stage events. While many set up various kinds of stalls, the youngsters are seen more engaged in off-stage competitions and games which have been introduced as a part of this event over the years.
Spreading out this Joy of Easter, the Parishioners of Ribandar have opened their doors of the Easter Extravaganza to people outside their village this year. While the revenue generated over the years through this event was utilised towards social causes like Scholarships for students, aiding the ones in need, this year the revenue generated through this event will aid in the construction of the New Parochial house and restoring the old one as a Museum housing many antiques and history of the village.
While many villages in Goa have begun celebrating Easter as a community meeting up at their Parish Churches, Ribandar has long ago set a legacy of celebrating and uniting all the communities in the village as one through their Easter Extravaganza.
