This year, more merry feet to usher in Christmas

The Christmas dance hosted by the 108-year-old Poona Goan Institute (PGI) is an event to look forward to every year. This time around, several churches are also organising Christmas dances.

The wooden dance floor, all of 2,500 sq ft, at the St Patrick's schoolground promises to be one of the Christmas ball attraction this year.

The popular Jet Set band from the city will play at the Good Shepherd Church off the NIBM Road, and another Christmas dance will be held at St Anthony's hall at the City Church.

On New Year's day, St Francis Xavier's Church at Chinchwad will also host a dance to raise funds for a new building.

The PGI, of course, will keep the tradition alive and have invited the Fascinators band from Goa give the guests and participants the rhythm for the dance.

Father Malcolm Sequeira, parish priest at St. Patrick's Cathedral told Newsline that the event on December 25 was more of an occasion where families can come together and celebrate.

"It is a programme where we want to encourage families to come together and gather as a large one. Our own parishioners will be performing as part of the Groove Junction band."

The proceeds of the programme will be used for paving the road to the adjoining school on the campus, Sequeira said.

There are 37 parishes and an approximate one lakh Catholics in the city. This is the first time several churches have undertaken efforts to bring people together under each parish by organising a Christmas dance.

One of the organisers of the Christmas dance at the Good Shepherd Church, Brother Anmol da Costa, said that a lot of Catholic families had moved out of M G Road, Camp. Others from Sangli and Kolhapur have taken new homes at Kondhwa, Bibvewadi, Lulla Nagar and nearby areas. The dance is a way of introducing these families to each other in our parish, da Costa said. What better way than getting them to shake a leg to the tunes of the Jet Set band. There will also be a night vigil at the Good Shepherd Church on December 22 at 10 pm.

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