2024 begins without the usual bang |03 January 2024
Despite the heavy rain and cloudy weather, hundreds of Seychellois stood together in solidarity at the Stad Popiler car park in Victoria on Sunday evening to say goodbye to one of the worst years in Seychelles’ history.
Thankfully, the cloudy weather and heavy rain was only temporary as the people on the streets continued to bob up and down to the music.
Singers such as the veteran Elijah started off the show by igniting the crowd with a metaphorical fire that could not be extinguished by even the heaviest of rains.
El Presidente made his way to the stage to rile up the already excited crowd and was met with a chorus of cheers.
In classic Cus Mun fashion, he revived the tired crowd who were beginning to fall short in excitement with every scream and cheer.
Gatto paved the way for singer Julia who was the last singer before the classic New Year countdown. Artist John Wirtz was the final act of the show, closing out 2023 completely and opening the doors to 2024.
The countdown to midnight, led by MC DJ Junior was met with the classic cheers, albeit slightly tinged with sorrow as this year did not have the traditional fireworks. The countdown was from the large public screen.
Speaking to Seychelles NATION, singer Gatto described 2023 as a difficult year as he had just been released from prison four months ago. “We will see 2024, inshallah and we thank Him for us being here,” he stated. In 2024, he hopes to see a much better Seychelles where there is love, unity, happiness and respect.
“We do not just want another year of beating our heads into the wall, but rather real action and real talk. We are all humans and we all make mistakes but it is time we take responsibility.”
For Indonesian immigrant Yashusha Agung who was on holiday, 2023 was an enjoyable year for him and he got to experience many different things in Seyhelles. He shared that for 2024, he will be trying his best to travel the world more.
Bangladeshi immigrant Arun Rai had arrived in Seychelles two days before the December 7 explosion and the flooding in the north of Mahé. He was shaken to the core when it happened as he was trying to escape Bangladesh, away from similar calamities.
“In my country a lot of flooding happens all the time so for something like this to happen two days after I landed in Seychelles was traumatising,” he stated. “For 2024, I do not have high hopes, truth be told. I think it will be another bad year.”
Local entrepreneur Danio Marcelin noted that 2023 was a good year. While there were its ups and down, it is also the year he decided he had enough and really wanted to make a change in his life. Regarding the lack of fireworks, “I did not notice much difference without fireworks because of the enthusiasm of the people, it is always the same regardless of what is happening. For me, major goals for 2024 includes a comeback. I intend to climb the ladder of success this year.”
Thomas Morel, who travelled from La Digue to watch the show, was disappointed by the lack of fireworks but still enjoyed the show nonetheless. “It was a good time and these sorts of times is as much that you can ask for.” He noted that 2023 was a regular year with nothing special happening. For 2024, he hopes that he will be able to make more money.
Aspiring model Chloe Marengo noted that 2023 started off well but quickly began dropping half way through like most of the years and stated that it ended on a bad note with all the disasters happening. “For 2024 I hope that we have a better year. What more can I say?”
Speaking to Seychelles NATION, the event coordinator, Basil Bouchereau of Kasamba Productions, who had been tasked by Creative Seychelles Agency to organise the event, said that the December 7 disaster dampened the ambiance a little bit. “We needed to bolster up the morale of people who went through this unfortunate disaster,” he stated.
Mr Bouchereau noted that they were alerted by the meteorological service to cancel the event due to heavy rain at around 5pm, but they opted to keep it on track. “For 2022, we still did it with rain even more intensive as this time around.” He thanked everyone for supported him and crew.
The celebrations into the New Year 2024 went on until 2am, where people could party, mingle and dance, while having food and drinks from various stall set up in the car park.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the show.
Sunny Esparon
Photos by Louis Toussaint
