MUMBAI:  Goa is a fantastic destination to enjoy the December festivities. As the state is synonymous with fun and relaxation, there is no better time to visit Goa than in December. From beaches to sunbathing to loud and lavish parties, Goa in December has it all. And the icing on the cake is the famous and beautiful Christmas and New Year parties that can make anyone fall in love with the state.

Apart from cool beach parties to lavish evenings at resorts, December in Goa has also been filled with music, art, culture, and fitness festivals. Here’s a list of the five festivals you should add to your itinerary while planning your visit to Goa.

Goa arts and literary festival

The Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF) is an annual literary festival that takes place in the Indian coastal state of Goa every December. Founded in 2010, the event is organized by ICG in association with the Goa Writers' Group, with support from the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa. The event also features stalls, mainly put up by local bookstores and a few publishers. All events at the festival are free and not ticketed and are open to all.

When: 1st-5th December 2022
Where: International Centre Goa, Dona Paula(ICG-Dona Paula), Goa

Connect Fest, 2022

Launched by the world's largest fitness & nutrition community FITTR, Connect fest is India’s biggest fitness festival – 'CONNECT Fest 2022 - Where Fitness meets Fun' in Goa. The fest aims to create a judgment-free space where its large fitness community can convene to celebrate the passion for fitness and interact with like-minded fitness enthusiasts to share their journey and offer or gain motivation and knowledge.

The fest will host exhilarating events like ICN (I Compete Natural), a renowned international event that gives leading bodybuilders and physique models a chance to show off the power of 100% natural fitness. Further, there will be other fitness and sporting events like MMA, Box Cricket, and Garmin Step Challenge. To lighten the mood and create a fun atmosphere, FITTR has scheduled gigs by popular and hilarious stand-up comics like Abhishek Upamanyu and Karunesh Talwar and live music performances by renowned fusion rock bands, Euphoria, including some famous ones.

When: 10th & 11th December, 2022
Where: Grand Gigi's, behind Mobor beach, Cavelossim, Goa

Serendipity Art Festival

Serendipity Arts Festival is an annual arts festival held in Panaji, Goa, for a week in late December. It was founded in 2016 by Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprise. It is the only arts festival in the country whose programming spans multi-disciplinary fields such as art, theater, music, literature, dance, food, and crafts. With free admissions, the festival received 450,000 visitors in 2018. For the 2019 edition, the festival took over 12 venues, including some of the heritage structures along the Mandovi river, and featured over 95 projects, including workshops, live performances, and art exhibitions.
 
The festival is organized by the non-profit Serendipity Arts Foundation. After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the festival is back with a line-up of immersive and interdisciplinary programmers conceptualized by a panel of distinguished curators spanning across performing, visual, and culinary arts and crafts.

When: 15th-23rd December 2022
Where: Panaji, Goa

Sunburn Goa

Sunburn Festival is India's first and largest commercial electronic dance music festival. Incepted by Serial Entrepreneur Shailendra Singh with Jt MD of Percept Ltd under his captaincy, the festival ranked as the 3rd largest dance festival in the world and "as big as Tomorrowland and Ultra" as per the IMS APAC Business Report 2014. Started in 2007 as a three-day music festival in Goa, Sunburn has grown to become an aspirational lifestyle brand boasting an eclectic mix of music, entertainment, experiences and celebration that has seeded music tourism in India. It was ranked by CNN in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Festivals in the world.

Spanning over three-five days, the festival has multiple stages with artists playing simultaneously.

When: 28-30th December, 2022
Where: Vagator, Goa

KRANK x UKIYO Boutique Beach Festival

The festival is considered to be India's favorite boutique festival in Goa, and this time you will get to enjoy four nights of house & techno right by the ocean with a MEGA lineup & production is placed, and musicians and artists like Magdalena, Hozho, Rafael Cerato, Nils Hoffmann (Live), Juan Hansen (Live) are there to make the environment lit.

When: 27-30th December, 2022
Where: Ashvem Beach, Goa