Praslin fiesta 08-09-2014 Next edition will be up to Praslinois, says Alain St Ange The Praslin culinary and arts fiesta ended yesterday after a three-day event to celebrate the islands culture. By DB The event, spearheaded by Tourism and Culture Minister Alain St Ange as well as the Seychelles Tourism Board, was the first of its kind in Praslin. The organisation of the fiesta was surrounded by controversy because of the use of the coco mer kernel in some of the foods that were to be featured in the fiesta. The rare coco de mer kernel was advertised as one of the key selling points of the fiesta, something that would draw tourists to the island. But despite the criticisms about the use of the coco de mer and intimations that some would demonstrate against the fiesta at the opening ceremony of the festival last Friday, none of that happened, Minister Alain ST Ange confirmed to this newspaper. In fact, it seems Praslinois have welcomed the idea of the festival judging by the number of people who turned up for the three-day celebration - by far outnumbering the tourists. It is easy to criticize but its not easy to do, Mr St Ange said on Friday during the opening ceremony. He added that he had organized the festival for Praslin who badly needs the publicity and visibility and that he would leave it to Praslinois to decide whether they wanted a second edition of the festival next year. I am trying to help Praslin because they have suffered since the 2012 shark attacks and the hotels are supporting me in this endeavour, Mr St Ange told this newspaper. In fact, the Minister revealed that the festival was financed entirely by sponsors while his ministry did not have a budget to pay for the event. And local businesses as well as hotels on Praslin were present at the fiesta, occupying the different stalls in Côte dOr during the weekend to showcase their products or sell confectionaries and other food stuff at very affordable prices. The star of the fiesta nonetheless remained the coco de fes – the stand was swamped by locals and tourists alike for a taste of the rare nut that was used in the preparation of different desserts. The ministry of tourism had only a limited amount of the precious kernel available for use – two kilos according to sources - so the desserts sold out very quickly. Cat Cocos sponsored the event by offering a promotional fare from Friday to Sunday.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 06:46:48 +0000
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