Margao Crafts Festival

This Craft Festival of Margao is organized in the city of Margao in Goa by the G. H. R. S. S. I. D. C. (Goa Handicrafts, Rural and Small Scale Industries Development Corporation) along with the Margao based Kalashree Mahila Mandal. This exhibition cum fair of the Margao city is among the famous fairs in the state of Goa. Apart from attracting people from the neighboring areas, this festival even attracts people from all over the country. Usually, this festival has got its fixed venue at a place located near the Costa and Company Private Limited in Goa that is popularly called Costa Ground in the state. Since, this annual Goan festival draws large number of crowd, this Costa Ground, which is a vast ground covered with red colored mud has been chosen by the organizing committees as the venue of the famous Margao Crafts Festival in Goa.
This handicraft festival of Goa is a part of the 50 years completion of the liberation of the state. Apart from showcasing the rich tradition as well as the talent of the crafts persons and artisans of Goa, this crafts festival even acts as a promotional event for the handicrafts of the state. To be precise, this festival of Margao portrays the history as well as the present condition of the handicrafts of the state.

Besides displaying the varied kinds of handcrafted items that are the creation of the local artisans, this fair even includes many cultural events. Some of the other major attractions of this festival of Goa are the different types of workshops, musical programs and competitions etc., which are conducted during those days of exhibition.

The starting of this craft festival of Goa is generally marked by a procession known as 'Shobha Yatra', where the traditional folk dancers of Goa perform. The fair ground consists of more than 100 stalls, which are allotted to the eminent and selected artisans of the state at free of cost. Apart from displaying their unique range of handcrafted products, these local artisans even participate in the seminars and the workshops conducted within the fair ground. These seminars often discuss on the preservation of the traditional forms of Goan arts. Mainly held during morning, these sessions are even attended by officials and experts from some government organizations, financial organizations as well as reputed designers, who have got national and international recognition.

Numerous competitions like elocution competition, vegetable competition, flower arrangement competition and many more are organized for women by the Kalashree Mahila Mandal.

The evenings of the fair dates are featured with the varied entertainment cum cultural programs. Many Indian artists of global fame perform in these musical concerts, dance concerts and the stage shows and the musical shows.