Seychelles’ Carnival still grabbing attention of international press |10 September 2011

The latest overseas publication to relive the three days of the carnival, which took place in the island’s capital of Victoria, is the highly acclaimed Strait Times magazine of Singapore with an article entitled ‘Carnival in the Seychelles’. 

The magazine came out with its report on Seychelles’ ‘Carnival of Carnivals’ as a special edition for the Natas Trade Fair 2011 that took place from August 26-28 in Singapore.

Its well-recognised journalist Lim Yann Ling had travelled to the islands in March to personally experience the carnival.

She starts her account of the ‘Carnaval International de Victoria’ by telling what had prompted her to travel to Seychelles for this festival.

“The aeroplane finally lands after an eight-hour flight from Singapore. I remain skeptical of finding joie de vivre – what the French call the ‘joy of life’ – in Seychelles,” says Lim Yann Ling, adding it was a phrase she found on the island’s carnival brochure.

Indeed, she did find the ‘joie de vivre’ of the mid-ocean Creole islands of Seychelles. Lim Yann Ling reveals that “The Carnaval International de Victoria in the middle of the Indian Ocean is a rare occasion to experience island rhapsody and see a community in revelry.”

The Strait Times magazine journalist goes on to explain what sets the carnival of the small island nation of Seychelles apart from other grand carnivals of the world.

“Unlike Mardi Gras celebrations elsewhere, the carnival carries a message of international friendship and aims to promote tourism for the African region,” writes Lim Yann Ling.

The Seychelles ‘Carnaval International de Victoria’ is truly a stage where cultures of the world meet, and Lim Yann Ling wonderfully confirms that when she says: “In a three-day event that culminates in a street float parade, floats from international organisations and artists from many parts of Africa, Venice, Brazil, China and the UK Notting Hill – the second largest street festival in the world – fly in for the celebration.”

The Seychelles Islands pride itself for having successfully launched a carnival that serves as a platform where international communities can gather for three days of celebration in a friendly atmosphere away from the pressures of the world.

For the 2011 ‘Carnaval International de Victoria’, some 21 international carnival floats travelled to Seychelles from the four corners of the world to take part alongside some 60 national floats in a procession filled with colours, fun and joy.