SEVEN DAYS TO GO TO THE MOTHER OF ALL CARNIVALS
(Posted 19th April 2014)
In a week from now will the lights on the main stage of the Stade Popilar have gone out, the official opening ceremony of the Carnaval de Carnivals, the Carnival International de Victoria 2014 over and done with but going by the experience of the last three editions of the world’s most globalized carnival festival, Victorians and visitors from abroad will dance the night away and make merry until the wee hours of the morning.
26 participating troupes from around the world are flying into the Seychelles this year, a new record once again, and all indications are that the concept of this global carnival will only bring in more still as time goes by.
Again in Victoria this year will be the Notting Hill Carnival of the UK, the Brazil Carnival from Sao Paulo, the Carnival from Trinidad and Tobago is returning to Mahe as is the Dusseldorf Carnival from Germany with their acclaimed ‘Prinzen Garde’. In addition will the festival features the Carnival from Indonesia and the Carnival from Italy to parade alongside with cultural troupes from Seychelles, La Reunion, Mayotte, Madagascar, South Africa KwaZulu Natal, Bhutan, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa Cape Town (Minstrels), Kenya, China, the United States of America, South Africa Pretoria, South Korea, DerTour of Germany, the Sami People of Sweden, India, Bangladesh and more. Visiting navy ships, as has been the case in the past, will be represented by crew members proudly carrying their national colours at the main parade on Saturday afternoon next week.
Notably will the festival this year be co-hosted by main host country Seychelles alongside the Ile de La Reunion, Madagascar, Mayotte and South Africa KwaZulu Natal, which is expected to provide not just increased visibility but that crucial added focus from the international media on these destination countries. In particular has Reunion, co-host since the first event in 2011, gained added popularity and seen tourist visitor numbers rise, attributed to a large part to their annual participation in the Carnival and their close working relationship with the Seychelles under the umbrella of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Island Organization.
Some 84 media organisations have been accredited to the event this year sending around 150 journalists, photographers, TV and radio teams to the Seychelles, giving not just the festival itself but the destination and the participating co-hosts priceless publicity over weeks and months to come. The demand for such places this year too set a new record, speaking for the popularity of the Seychelles as a tropical island destination and, unprecedented so far in the history of the event, did the organizers have to close the accreditation process two weeks ago as they reached their logistical limit to host yet more. Watch this space for live updates from the festival when it is going underway and for onsite reports and feature articles about the archipelago’s attractions. More destination information can be found via www.seychelles.travel.
