COVID-19 effect: Christmas celebrations to be hit as Cochin Carnival called off The Cochin Carnival, which begins in the first week of December, usually gets into its high-pitched revelry towards the end of the month. Share Via Email | A+A A- People burning the Pappani (old man effigy) at the 2019 Cochin Carnival held in Fort Kochi. (File photo| EPS) Express News Service KOCHI: Cochin Carnival, the biggest annual year-end celebration held at the Vasco da Gama Square in Fort Kochi, has been cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 situation. This will be the first time in history that the carnival, which normally sees the participation of more than 5 lakh people, is cancelled since it came into being in 1984.