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Sao Joao: Goa’s monsoon feast of leaping into wells
The day the villages leap into wells the monsoon has just filled
Sao Joao is the Goan Catholic feast of the birth of St John the Baptist, kept every year on 24 June, a Thursday in 2027. It falls just as the monsoon fills the wells, and in the villages of North Goa young men in crowns of leaves and flowers leap into wells, ponds and streams, while at Siolim a procession of decorated boats comes up the Chapora river. It is a one-day village feast, free and public, best seen in Bardez.
Fixed by the church calendar; villages announce their programmes, such as the Siolim sangodd, a float of lashed boats, in June.
Where to celebrate
What the day looks like
The morning starts at Mass. From about noon the village lanes fill with groups of young men in kopels, crowns woven from leaves, fruit and flowers, often with sanjuachi vaal, a creeper with small red flowers that grows in the wells in the early monsoon. They go from house to house singing songs to the saint to the ghumot (a clay drum), the mhadalem and the kansallem (cymbals), knocking stumps of coconut palm on the ground to announce themselves. Households offer them sanna (steamed rice cakes), patollyo (turmeric-leaf parcels of coconut and palm jaggery) and fruit. Then come the wells: one by one, to cheers, they jump.
It is also a feast for newly-weds, locally called the son-in-law’s feast: the new son-in-law is invited to lunch by his mother-in-law and goes home with a basket of fruit and sweets.
In the afternoon the focus moves to Siolim. Decorated boats lashed together into floats, the sangodd, come up the Chapora from the jetty to the riverbank by St Anthony’s Church, where a stage programme runs into the evening. The green after weeks of rain, the smell of wet earth and the brown, fast river make this a different Goa from the beach season.
Why they jump
The Gospel of Luke tells how the unborn John “leaped” in his mother Elizabeth’s womb when Mary came to visit. Goa reads that leap literally: jumping into the water recalls it, and recalls John baptising Jesus in the Jordan. The feast of St John is kept across the Catholic world on 24 June, but leaping into wells is Goan, and it grew around the arrival of the monsoon, so the feast also celebrates the rains. The Church has long discouraged the jumping; the villages keep it anyway.
✅ How to join in, and stay safe
Sao Joao is a village feast that visitors are welcome to watch; joining is by invitation.
- Courtyards by invitation — Watch from the lane. Go into a courtyard or near a household well only when the family invites you, which they often do.
- Think before you jump — Monsoon wells are deep and the water is murky. Jump only if you swim well and the locals jumping there say it is fine, and not after a drink.
- Rain and roads — This is mid-monsoon: North Goa roads are slow and wet. Arrive the day before and avoid riding a scooter home after dark.
- Not a pool party — Resorts sell Sao Joao pool parties; the feast itself is in the villages and the church, and costs nothing.
Where to go and what to book
Base yourself in North Goa, in Siolim or Assagao. The wells are jumped in Siolim, Anjuna, Assagao, Calangute and villages across Bardez, and Siolim’s sangodd is the set-piece of the afternoon. Saligao keeps its own village festival, the Vangodd de Saligao. Day-by-day plan: [Sao Joao in Goa](/en/festivals/sao-joao-goa/goa/).
Monsoon is Goa’s low season, with the lowest room rates of the year, so three weeks ahead is usually enough. From mid-June trains on the Konkan line run to a slower monsoon timetable: book them about a month ahead and allow extra time.
❓ FAQ
When is Sao Joao in 2027?
On Thursday 24 June 2027. The date is fixed by the church calendar: 24 June every year, the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist.
Why is Sao Joao celebrated in Goa?
It marks the birth of St John the Baptist. Jumping into wells recalls John leaping in his mother’s womb, and the feast also greets the monsoon.
What is a kopel?
The crown worn on Sao Joao, woven from leaves, fruit and flowers, often with sanjuachi vaal, a creeper with small red flowers found in wells in the early monsoon.
Can visitors take part?
Yes, as guests. The lanes and the Siolim riverbank are open to all; go into courtyards or jump into a well only when locals invite you.