Seychelles Carnival Countdown begins

The clock is set for the coming Seychelles Carnival. It was with the back drop of La Plaine St. Andre, one of the Seychelles most spectacular colonial houses, that Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, declared open the Carnival 2014 Countdown. Minister St.Ange said carnival time is just around the corner.

“Seychelles Carnaval International de Victoria is arriving again. It is moving as a fast train. Seychelles and the world is in for a good surprise,” said Minister St.Ange.

This fourth edition of Carnaval International de Victoria is seeing for the first time Air Seychelles/Etihad as its partner airline. Minister St.Ange thanked Air Seychelles for its partnerships and for the committed contributions towards the success of this year’s edition of the event that is now known as the unique “Carnival of Carnivals.”

“Without your support, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Seychelles Tourism Board will not be able to stage this important event. If we are here, it’s because we have companies like you who believed in what we are doing,” the Minister said.

In the presence of many friends of the carnival, sponsors, artists, and performers, Minister St.Ange said that if Seychelles wanted such an event like the carnival, it needs committed partners standing alongside the Seychelles Tourism Board and Ministry of Tourism and Culture. He also used the opportunity to urge the local business community to prepare their own carnival floats that will showcase their businesses to Seychelles and to the world.

“My appeal to the local trade is to use the carnival as a platform to showcase yourself. The carnival will again this year bring the biggest media bank ever onto the shores of the Seychelles – use their presence here to showcase your businesses to the world,” Minister Alain St.Ange said.

This year, the Seychelles Tourism Board has been working with many of the known and respected media houses to ensure adequate coverage of the event called the “Carnival of Carnivals.” The Tourism Board has confirmed that journalists from all corners of the world and in the region will descend on Seychelles to capture the strong moment of the three-day carnival party. It is also confirmed that carnival delegations, and those who call themselves cardinal revelers who follow these events everywhere, have confirmed their presence in Seychelles. “The list of confirmed delegations coming to the carnival is long. All the best and most known carnivals will be parading together aging this year, and cultural troupes from countries wanting to promote their countries using their culture and in so doing their people are confirming their presence as well. Minister St.Ange said more countries from the Community of Nations are set to confirm in the coming days that they are also sending their cultural troupe to the carnival in Seychelles to increase their visibility as a tourism destination.”

The Minister also reiterated on the growing partnership the Carnaval International de Victoria has built with the Community of Nations.

“The participation from mainland Africa has grown. We will have many of the countries promoting the Big Five concept in this carnival. South Africa is making its first presence count in this festival as a co-host country. With South Africa onboard, the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands of La Reunion, Madagascar, Mayotte, and Seychelles now have a solid partner maligning us, all ready to drive the carnival wagon forward,” the Minister said.

Nathalie Didon, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Board, has emphasized the important carnival delegations converging to Seychelles to mark this 2014 edition of the event. She thanked the sponsors who have committed themselves to this year’s Carnaval International de Victoria and the dedication of the staff of the Seychelles Tourism Board who are working endlessly to put the carnival together.

The Seychelles Carnaval International de Victoria Countdown launching took place in the presence of Friends of the Carnival and the Seychelles Tourism Board. Official sponsors of the event, Air Seychelles/Etihad, Airtel Telecommunication, Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA), Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec), and Hunt Deltel pledged their support for the event. The strong moment of the launching was the announcement of the winner of the song competition for this year’s Carnaval International de Victoria. Third position went to KJ and Extra with the song “Carnaval narive,” second position went to George Payet with “Carnaval ile vanilla,” and Travis Julienne walked away with the first prize of R35,000 with his song “Ole Ola, en sel lavwa.”

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