Bollywood actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar will swing and sing to the Goa Carnival mood, when the festival week opens up on the streets here next month. This will be the second time that the star, whose film “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, a biopic on India’s greatest male athlete will be released shortly, will be in Goa for a live performance. His first performance here was a live singing act at the Nokia India Fest 2013, a high profile inter-collegiate competition, which had educational institutions from all across the country participating.

“Farhan has confirmed his presence and will also ride on one of the carnival floats. There will also be singing by Anushka Manchanda, who also resides in Goa. Remo (Fernandes) and Wendell Rodricks will also be a part of the Goa carnival this time. They are Goa’s biggest stars,” a Goa Tourism spokesperson said. Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar has already confirmed that Bollywood will have a significant presence at the carnival, which begins Feb 8. Among those who are expected to be present are actresses like Neha Dhupia, Isha Koppikar and Tanushree Dutta, he said.

For the week prior to the austere Christian season of Lent, the state celebrates ‘one last shot at having fun’ before the liquor bottles and beef and pork are stacked away as part of a 40-day period of religious penitence. The event draws tourists from all over the country and the world, and features a package among several tour operators. Goa’s carnival is similar to the carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and not quite unlike the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans and France. The parades involve the entire populace of the city pouring onto the streets to participate and to watch colorful parades of men and women in costumes and various whacky attires. Goa’s colorful carnival processions, which are normally held in February before the holy season of Lent, are symbolic of the state’s colonial Portuguese legacy.