CARNAVAL DE CARNIVALS EDITION 3.0 GOES UNDERWAY WITH MEDIA BRIEFING
The Constance Ephelia Resort provided a befitting venue for the launch of the third edition of the Seychelles’ Carnival International de Victoria, which will have 19 participating foreign groups show off their floats and performances, when the juggernaut hits peak with the parade on Saturday afternoon through the streets of Victoria.
Besides already familiar faces like the Notting Hill Carnival Road Show, this year represented with twice as many dancers compared to last year’s eye candy bonanza and co- hosts La Reunion and Zimbabwe, will all eyes surely be on the Golden Rose Samba School from Brazil, which is a regular sight at the Carnival in Rio. Other groups come from as far as China and Bali, South Korea and India but also from the more ‘regular’ carnival nations like Germany. An even larger number of floats representing the who is who in the tourism industry of the Seychelles, but also the business community at large, will of course also feature in the parade compared with past years, as the new found carnival tradition has firmly taken root now.
Main host country representative and Minister for Tourism and Culture Alain St. Ange was joined on the podium by Didier Robert, President of La Reunion, as well as representatives from the Seychelles, Madagascar and Zimbabwe tourism boards with the co-hosts given ample opportunity to showcase their own destinations.
(The beaming hosts, Minister Alain St. Ange and the STB Chief Executive Elsia Grandcourt)
Over 100 invited journalists and travel writers from across the world, with notably more Chinese scribes this year in the room, was the Ephelia conference hall packed, as the various speakers talked about what the carnival festival had done for the Seychelles and what Seychelles has done for those willing to partner in the event, like La Reunion and Zimbabwe getting that extra exposure needed to get their tourism sectors into a higher gear.
Following an intense Q&A session, which gave both President Didier Robert and Minister St. Ange the opportunity to highlight the concept of the Vanilla Island Cooperation and the willingness of key islands in the Western Indian Ocean to work hand in hand to promote travel to the diverse region, did the meeting move on to the Seselwa Restaurant of the Constance Ephelia Resort where the management of Constance Hotels in the Seychelles led by Philippe Guitton co-hosted with the Seychelles Tourist Board a Creole Night. The evening was filled with Creole music while the scribes and TV teams got filled with the finest Creole food creations, the Ephelia in particular is so well known for, but also with the more ‘spirited’ side of Creole social life.
(The Seychelles produce some fine rum with the most popular brand being the Takamaka)
A befitting start for an exciting three days, officially kicking off at the Seychelles International Conference Centre in the presence of President James Alix Michel on Friday evening before on Saturday afternoon the streets of Victoria will be filled by dozens of floats and performing groups from around the world.
It is truly Carnaval de Carnivals time again in the Seychelles, bigger, better and already with the third edition a globally renowned event for which thousands of additional tourists now travel to the archipelago.
Seychelles, Another World.
