This weekend will see VIVA GOA being staged in Mississauga on the grounds of an Orthodox Church by the G.O.A. Toronto after a hiatus of several years. The site was formerly a disused aircraft hangar in Toronto which could accommodate the large crowds that came from even the border American states.
The day used to start with the finals of the soccer games that resulted from a league the previous weeks. The sports were followed by cultural programs (skits, mandos and traditional dance), while people milled around the various food stalls, the bar and the kiosks that sold packaged food and non-edibles. Finally socializing and a live music and dance program ended the long day, usually beyond 1am. Thank you Melvyn Fernandes for the early warning about pet meats used by a Goan Caterer from Swindon. I don't know how many Goans going this weekend to the Toronto event will have read your post on Goanet or heard about it, but I personally will approach the food with trepidation. If the caterer in Swindon was inspected and highly rated and then accidentally discovered to have used pet food meats and disgusting storage methods, what's to say that our Toronto Goan caterers who are neither regulated nor inspected (being home businesses) can be trusted to do the safe thing. Goan caterers in Toronto have exponentially increased despite attrition of the older ones in the business, probably since it has become more profitable than before, riding on the back of the increasing price of inputs, especially meats. Roland. Sent from my iPhone
