Africa-Press – Seychelles. In a magnificent resurgence of grandeur, the long-awaited opening night of the regatta, dubbed Regatta50, marked a triumphant return after three years of pandemic-induced hibernation.
The regatta, once a bustling spectacle of sails and cheers, was abruptly silenced by the relentless grip of Covid-19. As the sun dipped below the horizon on the first day of the event’s grand revival, the air was charged with an electric excitement, echoing the sentiment that the wait was over, and the country was once again ready to embrace a spectacle that had been sorely missed.
Seychelles NATION had the pleasure to be on the frontlines yesterday evening to engage not only with the people but with Round Table Rotary Club president Alex Freminot and chairman Andrew Palmyre respectively.
Mr Palmyre stated that the 50 years of the Round Table Rotary Club itself is a huge number and that it shows the success of the Regatta activity, whose primary purpose was to raise funds for the community.
“For fifty years, we have been able to do this and we will continue to do this and today we will celebrate that milestone,” stated Mr Palmyre.
“Unfortunately, we did not have it for three years due to Covid-19, so it is the first one after the pandemic. We hope that there is a huge turnout and we will raise as much as we can both through the participation of the vendors and the participation of the public in terms of the lottery sale, where the proceeds go to our cause,” he said.
Regatta being a well fuelled machine that has continued throughout all these years is because of the unity and the fellowship of the Round Table members, explained Mr Palmyre. The regatta itself has been planned for over a year and everybody put their hands together to make this happen.
“Everyone contributes one way or another to make it a success. For me, the machine behind it are the members and of course the support of all our sponsors, both new and long terms partners.”
When asked the question to promote a reason as to why the public should attend the last day, Sunday, when most events whine down, Mr Palmyre responded by explaining that Sunday should be the day when everyone comes to Beau Vallon. “On stage, we will have the local band playing traditional, creole songs and it is a more family feel event. There will be the finals of the sports activities such as volleyball, football. There will be a kids’ area where there will be a mini-football and the famous greasy pole contest with amateur teams,” explained Mr Palmyre.
There will also be the much-awaited lottery draw. This will be done in front of a live audience. There will also be a special guest, Master KJ who will perform after the lottery draw.
In terms of keeping things under control, Mr Palmyre, noted that there is not only the collaboration with the police, but with the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority, which will be keeping an eye out at sea. There will be around 40 guards for both morning, afternoon and night shifts. They will be watching the outside perimeter, to control traffic and maintain order, while another group of security team will be maintaining law and order at the events.
As for the opening night and Saturday, Mr Palmyre said the entertainment will cover a little bit of everything. While last night was about techno and house music, tonight’s entertainment will be more afro-beats, and of course, the famous Miss Regatta.
Regatta itself, based on public opinion is the biggest three-day activity that is held on an annual basis in Seychelles. All the proceeds are used to fund various projects in the community.
For this year, since it is the 50th anniversary, the money raised will go towards the renovation of the regatta site.
“It is for the family park. So the thought process is we are giving back to this site what the site did for us for 50 years”, Mr Freminot explained.
He said the last few days are the ones where everything is trying to be done on time as the vendors come on site, so it is one of the more hectic moments during the preparation.
“All the participants have been able to arrive to Regatta and they have been able to go on site and get a place, there are a lot of logistics to make sure that everybody has been able to get a reserved place,” he stated.
The general consensus from the public is that whilst they were happy that Regatta is back, they were disappointed a little bit by the lack of organisation regarding the parking. O.L. Hoareau, reported that the security guards were being aggressive towards him despite his full cooperation.
“But Regatta itself deserves to be applauded today and the team behind it, I am glad that it is back and we can finally have some fun again,” stated Hoareau.
Ted noted that whilst he is not a regular attendee of Regatta, he is still happy that it is back on the calendar. “It gives the youth something to do and take away the negative influences such as drugs and things like that. Whilst there is temptation at an event like this, as long as they are with positive influence amongst their friends, they can have some fun and I am happy for them. I am too old to be jumping about in things like this,” joked Ted.
The event will end late Sunday with the lottery draw.
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