The Ambeachem fest was held at the MontFort Academy, Corlim. This inclusive fest was the 50th fest curated by Marius Fernandes, Goencho Festakar, and was a celebration of culture and knowledge with economic and holistic empowerment of communities. At the festival people were given live grafting session by Priyanka Naik. Speaking to Gwenn Gomes, well known agriculturist Minguel Braganza explained about the care and nurturing of mango trees.
The benefits of the mango tree for various ailments was also explained by Dr. Maryanne Lobo. Through the Bolcaocho Gozzali noteworthy people such as artists and Konkani playwriter Baba Prasad and sexaphone player Austine Fernandes spoke about their career journey. Being an inclusive fest, the para Olympic players were felicitated for their various achievements and contribution. At the fest, a new world record was set with twenty five Ghumotts being handed over to women to play them and this was accompanied by the song Ghum Ghum composed and sung by Shakuntala Bharne. A womens group from Dulapi performed the lamp dance.
A three day workshop was held for the youth of the community where in they learnt football skills, songs, kottie dance and artwork which were all part of the fest and were trained by volunteers Vimala Dsouza, Raysancia DCunha, Pranil Karanjakar, Ratasha Fernandes, Ana Gomes and Cleona Rodrigues. The director Brother Prem of the MontFort Academy highlighted the importance of skills and holistic development the of the youth through the various courses and the Vayam outreach programme available at the academy.
The Goa Police Pink Force through their presence at the fest interacted with the people to ensure their full support. The fest also witnessed the energy of Dr. Glenis Mendoca, Inacio Madeira and Carlos Gonsalves who performed on different Goan songs. The fest was also supported by Joed Almeida,Prakash Kamat and the students of Don Bosco college.
Pics credit: Govind Potekar