Seychelles Tourism Board Relaunches Seychelles Ocean Festival
As part of its mandate to revive the Seychelles Ocean Festival, the Seychelles Tourism Board relaunched the event over the weekend of November 23 to November 25, 2018. The festivities were held as part of the global Year of the Reef campaign.
The
2018 Seychelles Ocean Festival commenced with an official launch at Eden Bleu
on Friday 23rd November attended by 50 or so invitees,
including the vice-president of the Republic, several ministers, principal
secretaries and CEOs.
The
invited guests were treated to an explanation of the philosophy behind the
event, an introduction to the new STB diving brochure, and details of the Pristine
Seychelles Campaign.
It
also featured the screening of the compelling film ‘A Plastic Ocean’ with
its worrying analysis of plastic pollution of our seas and a visually
impressive chapter of the Blue Planet 11 film on corals. There
was also a small exhibition of model boats by Robin Port Louis, wooden fish by
Egbert Marday and a painting by James Agricole. In parallel, STB also ran a
Facebook photographic campaign with some impressive entries, eventually won by Sam
Balderson.
Speaking
at the launch of the event, Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Chief Executive,
Mrs. Sherin Francis stressed on the importance of the Ocean Festival to
Seychelles.
“The
Ocean Festival is an important embodiment of Seychelles’ marine scene and
encompasses many different elements and is of equal relevance to our local
population for the way it can sensitise them to the fragility of our ocean and
the need to adopt sustainable practices to protect it and its diverse
ecosystems,” said Mrs. Francis.
From
mid-morning to mid-afternoon on Saturday, the focus switched to the area in
front of Eden Plaza’s Tamassa restaurant and a series of activities such as
face painting, bouncing castle and live painting James Agricole. Saturday also
saw a thrilling 20-strong raft race at Bay Ternay beach in which teams made up
from the various NGOs competed with others from government and private sectors
in a race that saw Skychef win the day with their innovatively designed raft.
On
Sunday, attention switched to Beau Vallon beach where the NGOs set up stalls
and explained their work and projects to passers-by while K Radio broadcast
live interviews with Sherin Francis, CEO of STB and members of the NGO
community as part of a public awareness campaign. There was also beach
volleyball and football competitions, body painting, a treasure hunt, Iron man
& woman competition and a plethora of food & beverage stalls.
“The
2018 Seychelles Ocean Festival looks to simply set down a marker for the years
ahead and our intention to broaden its base yet further to incorporate all
sectors of the Seychelles marine scene and, with greater lead-in time and
resources at our disposal, to create a more fulsome event in future,” explained
STB tourism consultant Glynn Burridge.
The
Seychelles Ocean Festival has its roots in SUBIOS, (Sub- Indian Ocean
Seychelles) which remained a popular annual event for two decades, playing an
important role, not only in showcasing Seychelles as a diving destination for
tourists, but also in sensitising the local population to the beauty but
extreme fragility of the surrounding ocean and its ecosystems.
In
the intervening years, the Seychelles marine scene expanded to include many
other sectors such as the Blue Economy; sailing & cruising; conservation;
diverse NGO activity; diving & snorkelling; sports fishing etc. and there
became a need for a wider platform to encompass these new interests.
