Daman Day 2011 Celebrations
Daman Day 2011 was celebrated on “Dia de Damao” – 2nd of February which also coincides with the feast of “Nossa Senhora das Candeias” – an annual, open air mass held on the forecourt of the DMC building and offered by the councillors and staff of the Daman municipal council.
Due to the ongoing DMC elections, the organizers of “Daman Day 2011” decided not to have the sports and cultural events this year and instead hire out a restaurant-cum-discotheque for celebrating their 4th Daman Day soon after the mass. A special bus ferried revelers to venue – “Nana’s,” in Small Daman at 8pm and dropped them back at 11pm.
The theme for Daman Day 2011 was…
Mr. Gabriel Guedes, well-known orator of Daman, made the welcome speech in Portuguese which was followed by a toast raised with the traditional goblets of port (albeit Goan) wine! This was followed by the quintessential Portuguese traditional dance – the Vira – performed by children in authentic costumes to the musical performances of the Daman Folklore Group.
The evening flew by in the time it took to sample the starters and down a couple of drinks, with renditions of popular Damanense folk songs as revelers jammed with the folklore group.
Then there was the customary session of ballroom dancing to peppy Portuguese music by DJ Rambo before dinner was served. The traditional Daman “Dampaque” took centre stage on the buffet table as did a bottle of the local fiery drink, “Benslor” on the bar counter!
Soon it was time to sip liqueur and head for the bus but not before everyone made a pact to meet again on Carnival 2011!
Visit http://www.WorldDamanDay.com for more!
Foi com muita satisfação que li a reportagem do Noel Gama sobre a festa de 2 de Fevereiro – o Dia de Damão. Da mesma forma, gostei de ver as fotografias, nas quais se vê o grande comunicador que é o Gabriel Guedes. Felicito os organizadores e faço votos para que mantenham esta grande iniciativa afectiva e cultural.
Adelino Rodrigues da Costa
On behalf of the organizers of “Dia de Damao,” thank you very much! We hope to have a really big event in 2012.
Kind regards,
Noel
I visited Daman some years ago and loved it!
People were very nice to us and I intend to travel back with family
Júlia Silva
Thank you for visiting the blog as well as Daman, Julia:) Looking forward to your next visit to Daman. For more info, check out http:/www.Discover-Daman.com
Estive em Damão, de 1957/1959, ou seja durante dois (2) anos, prestando serviço militar, integrado na Companhia de Caçadores Nº. 19, procedente da Ilha da Madeira, Portugal. Ao principio nada contente por ser destacado para uma terra tão longe da Portugal. Mas depois com o passar de pouco tempo, me integrei fácilmente, aprendi a conhecer melhor os Indianos e em pouco tempo eu e os meus camaradas fizemos boas amizades com os residentes tanto em Damão Pequeño como em Damão Grande, aprendi um pouco da cultura indiana, e aparte da guerrilha que atacava de noite os nossos postos fronteiriços, a experiencia foi muito boa e se pudesse, ou seja tempo gostaria de volver a Damão como Turista e recorrer os mesmos caminhos que trilhei nesses anos. Saludos para todos os que leiam estas letras.
Thank you for visiting my website and for your comment!
I speak Portuguese (it’s my mother tongue) and can read but can’t write as I was born in 1957 – just a few years before the Portuguese left in 1961.
I look forward to your visit to Damão! You may know my parents – Dr. J N Gama (Dentist).
Viva!