Novidade

Novidade is a Goan Catholic harvest festival marking the cutting of the first paddy of the season. Different parishes across Goa celebrate it on different dates through August, each blessing the new crop in its own way.

Origins

The word 'novidade' means newness, reflecting August as the month when the paddy crop first approaches maturity. Villages such as Raia, Sinquerim and Taleigao each keep their own date for the celebration, while most parishes mark it on 15 August, the feast of Our Lady of the Assumption.

How It's Celebrated

On the day, the parish priest visits a designated paddy field and blesses the new crop. A bundle of blessed sheaves is carried back to the church and shared out, one per family. Goan households mark the season with traditional sweets -- shevyo, rice vermicelli with coconut and jaggery, and patolleo, rice dumplings filled with coconut and jaggery and wrapped in turmeric leaf.

Written for Ami Goans; researched from public sources, since this festival has no dedicated Wikipedia article yet.