Praslinois enjoy themselves in their festival |09 September 2014

Praslinois and visitors had a full weekend of fun and enjoyment on the occasion of the first Praslin festival.

The opening of the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta took place at Amitié, opposite the Praslin airport in the Grand Anse Praslin district last Friday night. It was opened by Tourism and Culture Minister Alain St Ange shortly after the opening remarks by Natasha Esther, member of the National Assembly for the district of Baie St Anne.

The official ceremony saw amazing performances of drama by school children on the preservation of the coco-de-mer and music performances by some of the island’s well-known musicians like violinist Charles Lesperance known as ‘Ton Charles and Mike Cedras who sang ‘Zil Paradi’.

In the crowd were ministers Mitcy Larue and Peter Sinon, high tourism officials, consuls and tourists holidaying on Praslin.

At the end of the official part of the ceremony, Praslin artists, Selvan and Percy César, Paul Memée, Raymond Barra, Barbra Lepathy, Lindy Dubignon, Albert Adrienne and Colonel took to the stage which was decorated with balloon of different colours.

They were accompanied by ‘Liberation’ band from Praslin for the first half of the show. For the second half, the ‘L’Echo’ band from Mahe but comprising musicians originating from Praslin, namely Berno Cedras and Ruben Larue, enlightened the crowd along with guest singer Joenise Juliette.

On sale were Creole food, snacks and drinks. The night ended with a Bal Kreol by the Tanmi band at the Baie St Anne community centre.

The following day (Saturday), the crowd was at Côte d’Or for the different activities on the programme. In the morning at the Berjaya Praslin Beach hotel, there was the opening of an arts exhibition reserved for Praslin artists.

The Praslin culinary competition also took place at the Domaine de la Résèrve hotel at Anse Petite Cour. It was a competition for professional chefs and they represented eight hotels.

There were also a few organised sports activities such as mini Mahe boat race, fishing, domino and beach volleyball competitions, and Eco-Friendly long distance races.

Through SBC’s Paradise FM road show listeners were enlightened with some good music, live reporting and guests’ interviews.

The highlight of the day was the most talked about delicacies made with coco-de-mer ingredients by chefs from the Seychelles Tourism Academy.

The lucky ones had the chance to buy and enjoy the taste of bread, flan, parfait, mousse and ice-cream made of coco-de-mer.

At Côte d’Or that same night there was a ‘moutya’ organised by Seymas, followed by a beach party and later a Zilwa festival musical show by Jahkim, Sandra and Tania with Dj Dala at the Oxygen night club in Baie St Anne.

Ten non-professional cooks also had the chance to show their skills in a culinary competition on Sunday at the Berjaya Praslin Beach pizzerria
The Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta came to end at 4pm with the prize-giving ceremony for all the competitive events.

Grand Anse Praslin’s member of the National Assembly Marc Volcere officially closed the three-day fiesta, while Minister St Ange in closing speech gave a rendez-vous for next year for a second festival.

The following are some following taken by our photographer Patrick Joubert on Praslin.