Seychelles Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta postponed to October 2015

As steam was boiling up for the second edition of the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta that was set for this coming weekend September 4-6, the Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture called a press conference at his ESPACE Offices to announce that due to the adverse weather conditions of the last couple of days, the Praslin Island Fiesta was postponed to early October. Minister St.Ange said that according to information received from the airport-based Metrological Services, the weather forecast is for the bad weather to persist over the coming weekend.

In the press conference, Alain St.Ange, Minister for Tourism and Culture, announced the event will now be postponed until October 9, 10 & 11.

“It is with sadness that we announce the postponing of the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta. After much discussion with the committee which helped to stage the first edition, we’ve come to the conclusion that due to adverse weather conditions of the past days, we will now delay the event by one month.”

The month of October being a loaded one with Seychelles-India Day Celebrations, planned for October 2-4 and Festival Creole from October 23, 24 and 25, does, nevertheless, not expect to upset the organization of the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta.

Minister St.Ange said delaying the event by one month will give the organizing committee of the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta ample time to prepare for the event and maximize on the 3 days of activities for the benefit of the island’s tourism industry.

“Praslin, as a tourism destination, needed to be more visible and in so doing remain relevant. Praslin needed to be seen as the center of good food. We’ve been able to do this in this first edition, and we will maintain this concept in the second edition,” said Minister St.Ange.

The long-dated island tradition of good food passed the test in the first edition, while in the second edition, the organizing committee has kept to its agenda but with a slight adjustment to its content.

“Every Creole dish is unique. Seychelles has a blend of people that gives added value to Creole food. This year’s Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta will maintain its philosophy of positioning Praslin as the center of good food,” Minister St.Ange said.

The Minister added that the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta is working with the La Bastille-based National Heritage Research Centre to relook at the medicinal properties of coconuts and the different dishes composed of coconuts and use the fiesta to give coconuts more importance in daily cooking and dishes.

“There’s so much that needed to be done, and my appeal to hoteliers on Praslin is to relook at their sweet menus and see how to integrate coconuts in their local dishes. The more Seychelles uses coconuts, it will help increase the yield of our country,” Minister St.Ange said.

The economic benefits of the first edition of the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta were uncontested. Minister St.Ange said that the Ministry of Tourism and Culture had put an event on Praslin that drives its economy.

“We’ve put a cultural event on Praslin. We’ve shaken the big tree, and as the fruits fall, the people of the island who are in the forefront, are invited collect the fruits,” concluded Minister St.Ange as he invited the Praslinois to use their annual fiesta to look at ways and means to maximize economic benefits for themselves and for Praslin.

Seychelles is a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) .