One month and counting towards the 5th Seychelles Carnival

LINE UP FOR THE SEYCHELLES’S CARNIVAL JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER

(Posted 24th March 2015)

When the fifth edition of the ‘Carnaval des Carnavals – aka the Carnival International de Victoria’ kicks off on the 24th of April, in exactly one month to be precise, can the crowds lining the streets of the Seychelles’ capital expect Carnival Wonderland to descend on Mahe as the number of groups, troupes, performers and participants just keeps growing in leaps and bounds.

Last night did none other than the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St. Ange, send additional information to this correspondent to make sure that readers in East Africa are kept informed about the archipelago’s most visible and reported about festival.

The Minister wrote in his mail:

Without moving so much as one footstep the throng of people that will come down for the 2015 edition of the Seychelles carnival, will get a glimpse of Spanish culture.

La Tuna band have confirmed that they will be in Seychelles to delight the crowd with Spain’s folkloric traditional music.

It will be La Tuna’s first participation in the carnival but it will not be the first time that the band performs in Seychelles; in fact they were here in April 2014. They performed outside the National Cultural Centre for orphans, at popular local bazaar ‘Bazar Labrin’ at Beau Vallon and at the Eden Island jetty. Destination Management Company had worked collaboratively with Seychelles Tourism Board to bring them here.

The group coming down for the Seychelles Carnaval International de Victoria will not consist of the same members as the ones who visited our small islands last year.

La Tuna has a long, rich history dating back from 1218 that is closely linked to the University of Salamanca. Struggling university students with musical skills would perform in taverns, ale-houses and at university functions to pay for food and tuition fees.

Press forward to the 21st century, band members have changed along the years but the values remain more or less the same. They perform wearing the same costumes members used to wear in the 13th century, playing the guitar, accordion, tambourine and bandurria. They are very popular across the globe and in their home country, regularly hired to perform in auditoriums, hotels, restaurants and at wedding ceremonies.

The public can expect to be entertained by a great variety of Spanish and Latin melodies and rhythms such as rumbas, flamencos, pasos dobles, boleros, tangos, sones and baladas.

Miss Seychelles will be joined by her fellows World contestants from the United States and from Tanzania, one of China’s foremost performing arts groups will make a maiden appearance in Victoria and all the traditional carnival powers will be present, joined this year for the first time by an official delegation from fellow Vanilla Island member Mauritius.

The festival will be covered by over 100 journalists and TV / radio teams from around the world and is thought to give the Seychelles’ destination marketing a huge boost, as stories about the carnival tend to pop up in magazines, dailies and documentaries throughout the year adding to the appeal the archipelago already has as a leading global tourism destination.

Festival airline is Air Seychelles / Etihad which will fly in most of the carnival groups and journalists, apart from those coming from Africa where South Africa and Tanzania will be covered by Air Seychelles while the rest of participants and media representatives from Africa will travel by Kenya Airways.

For added information click on www.seychelles.travel where links give a complete update on the preparations for the Carnival.