FETAFRIK 2014 SET FOR NEW HEIGHTS AS SEYCHELLES PREPARES TO CELEBRATE AFRICA
(Posted 20th May 2014)
The Seychelles are stepping up their celebrations of Africa Day with an expansion of their Festival ‘Fetafrik 2014’, showcasing the archipelago’s African links which in recent years were intensified through increased tourism cooperation with a number of mainland countries.
This year’s festival will be staged between this coming Thursday and Sunday and the Minister for Tourism and Culture only yesterday announced that they have secured the services of Kenya’s acclaimed DJ Kalonge who will bring with him a collection of the best songs and music from Eastern Africa to have the crowds swing and dance into the wee hours this coming weekend.
Fetafrik has in recent years become a fixed calendar event promoted by the Seychelles Tourism Board to showcase the different historical ties of the Seychelles, with Africa, with China, with India and of course with France and the UK, for which the various national days like Frankophonie Day, China Day and India Day have been turned into mini festivals, underscoring the rainbow nation the Seychelles truly are.
Said tourism and culture minister Alain St. Ange: ‘The time has come for us to again celebrate our link with mainland Africa. For this FetAfrik we will see the participations of different groups from Africa. This is to ensure that we appreciate our very own cultural diversity as we see what the world showcases as their own’.
The Organising Committee of FetAfrik has also brought back the Gala Dinner, which proved to be a huge success at the end of last year’s edition. The stars of the night beside Alphadi, will be an international chef from Zambia, Musama Kaloto Chamunda. The popular African Bazaar will also return this year with a kaleidoscopic of artefacts. African Bazaar is the ideal platform for the African expatriate community living in Seychelles to revisit their cultural artefacts and showcases them to the public. FetAfrik is all about the fusion of African and Creole Culture. This concept is more than ever apparent in the 2014 edition. The official opening will be designed to show the celebrations of both cultures. FetAfrik 2014’s planned cultural talk will explore ‘The African Influence in the Indian Ocean’ which of course is significant across the islands from Madagascar and Reunion to Mayotte, the Comoros and the Seychelles. Watch this space for regular new from the tourism and culture sectors of the Vanilla Islands.
