Goa ushers in new year with beach parties

Hundreds of revellers flocked to the scenic beaches in Goa to usher in the new year even as masses were held across all the churches in the coastal state to mark the beginning of 2016.
The roads leading to beaches including Calangute, Baga, Anjuna in North and Colva, Benaulim and Palolem in south Goa witnessed traffic jams last evening.
The New Year parties, which began earlier in the evening continued till the wee hours on the beaches.
"We proved to be the best new year celebration destination once again. Foreign and domestic tourists had made a beeline to state's beaches," State Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar told PTI.

He said the celebrations were held without any untoward incidents.
"The promotions conducted by the tourism department across the globe and also within the country are proving fruitful. You can see it through number of footfalls (of the tourists)," the minister added.
While dusk to dawn parties marked the beach scene, all churches held midnight mass to welcome the new year.
The main mass was held at Goa Archbishop's palace at Altinho here.