Rampage 2017 - ‘Mega shows by world famous artists should not be seen as killing our local culture’ |11 November 2017
Organisers of the upcoming international music festival Rampage are of the view that the relevant authorities should see the event as a tool for attracting visitors and boosting tourism related services, rather than seeing it as an anti-Creole culture festival.
Rampage is a music festival started in 2015 to spice up the main Carnival day (which usually fell on a Saturday). The festival is the brainchild of Daniel ‘Ezy D’ Vadivello of Hype Production/TMD Nights, who said that it has always been his dream to create Seychelles’ own music festival after attending numerous festivals and concerts in London and throughout Europe.
The impact of festivals on cultural tourism is clear to see. It’s not just about having one concert or show; it’s about building a brand around big names that people all over the world follow.
“It’s only by getting the world’s attention that you can get them to notice the other things you have to offer,” says Daniel.
Exactly three weeks before Rampage 2017 takes the Seychellois public by storm again, Daniel talks about the event in the following interview.
Q: Why an ‘Independent International Music Festival’ when we have Festival Kreol?
A: Today, festivals are considered to contribute significantly to the cultural and economic wealth. The festivals have major impact on the development of cultural tourism to the host communities. The desire for festivals and events is not specifically designed to address the needs of any one particular group like they would say in Seychelles ‘Ti Men’, but the hosting of such events often develops major tourism and economic opportunities in addition to social and cultural benefits. Many researchers have contested that local communities play vital roles in the development of tourism through festivals. These events have the potential to give a great boost to tourism when they cater to out-of-region visitors directly or indirectly. We need the government to support and promote such events as part of its strategies for economic development, nation building and cultural tourism as it has proven to work.
If the same artist MAJOR LAZER is able to fill up a large field in Belgium’s country side with 100,000+ people from all over the world, why can’t he bring that same atmosphere (albeit on a smaller scale) to our little Seychelles?
Let’s analyse Tomorrowland festival for a second. Tomorrowland is an electronic dance music festival held in Boom, Belgium. Tomorrowland was first held in 2005 and has since become one of the world's largest and most notable music festivals. It now attracts over 400,000 visitors per year in Belgium for that single weekend and tickets usually sell out in minutes with added value to the Belgian economy of €70 million a year.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we should be reaping the same benefits, but I think using a proven working model is about as close as we can get to pushing and promoting our country besides the allure of white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters. Now I am not knocking Festival Kreol but let’s face it. We need something more. Festival Kreol is more and more losing local attendance, if we can’t get our own people to attend, how do we expect to entice visitors to Seychelles to take part in it?
Events such as Rampage have the potential to generate a vast amount of revenue from tourism when they cater to out-of-region visitors, compared to just local music and local artists. Rampage is now in its third year and the first time it’s being organised as a stand-alone event after the phase out of the annual carnival.
Q: What can one expect to hear at Rampage?
A: World trends. Currently the world seems to be big on EDM Fusion so I guess that’s what will be on the menu this year. But as the world is ever changing we also need to change and adapt to attract international visitors to the festival. So we will try as much as possible to move with the trend but also incorporate our own local talents in the process.
Q: Why Major Lazer as Rampage 2017 headliners?
A: The name speaks for itself really. The aim of Rampage from the start was to build it up year by year, getting big and bigger names as it grows. Last year we had Slovakian Superstar DJ EKG and this year we wanted to go a few steps higher. And Major Lazer currently is as big as it gets really, having played at all the major music festivals around the world including Tomorrowland. It’s perfect for Seychelles also because the group plays fusion set which includes electronic dance music, dancehall, reggae & Moombahton and so are more likely to appeal to local audiences. The group (trio) comprises music producer Diplo, DJ/MC Walshy Fire and DJ/MC Jillionaire. They are followed by millions of people worldwide and have full schedules most of the year. We have been after them for over one year, so believe me when I say it wasn’t easy to get them to agree to Seychelles. The spotlight their performance in Seychelles will bring for us is huge.
Q: Are all three members coming?
A: No, Diplo is the producer who creates the music, he doesn’t perform as such. Walshy and Jillionaire are the DJS who attend these concerts and usually perform as Major Lazer. So with the high fees they command, it was more practical to get the performer as people want a show and with Walshy who is coming down to Seychelles, that’s what they will get. His energy is crazy on stage.
Q: What’s the ticket price?
A: The other previous Rampage was free but as we get bigger names it’s not feasible to keep it free of charge even if we want to. Plus before it was subsidised by STB in terms of logistics as it was held as part of the carnival celebrations but since carnival is no more the festival is completely independent so the cost is huge. Lucky we have had tremendous support from our sponsors Takamaka Bay this year to make it possible. That said we still want to keep the prices as low as possible hence why the general admission tickets are always going to be R200 only but we will have VIP packages starting from R1000.
Q: What next? The Goal?
A: Well like I said at the start, the goal still remains to grow the festival into something huge and attract big names. Why not David Guetta for Rampage 2018?
We hope that this annual event turns out to be a tool for attracting visitors and building up tourism related services, which include travel, accommodation, restaurants, shopping, which in the end will be the major beneficiaries. We hope the relevant ministry shares that vision and backs it also rather than seeing it as an anti-Creole culture festival. Neighbouring countries already have started similar undertakings like Mauritius’s Island Rehab festival.
The goal is to have a great number of people per year converging on our tropical paradise island to see their favourite superstar mega artist. The festival tourism industry is worth a staggering USD 9.2 billion worldwide. I don’t see why we can’t make it work for us. We have a lot more nicer features than most of those countries that host such mega concerts.