Youth Festival’s competitions   Winners rewarded   |14 August 2021

Winners of the cake decorating competition: (l to r) Steffy Joseph, Hannah Esperance and Jean Luc Belle

Activities for this year’s Youth Festival , under the theme ‘Aspiration’, continued on Thursday with the cake decorating competition and the Splash spelling bee final.

Both competitions were hosted by the Seychelles National Youth Council at the Seychelles Tourism Academy.

Up against nine other youths from various districts, Steffy Joseph came out as the winner of the cake decorating competition followed by Jean Luc Belle in second place and Hannah Esperance in third.

All of the young cake decorators were provided with an already baked cake, ingredients, tools and decorations for the cake by the event organisers.

“They should do these competitions more often. It’s fun and encourages us to think and be more creative. We have youths in Seychelles who have talents besides singing and competitions like these with tempting prizes would help the youth develop their skills further,” stated Ms Joseph.

“I decorated my cake quite simple because I did not want a lot going on that would confuse the jurors. Although it did not have a specific theme, I designed a cake that would be ideal for any celebration – be it a birthday, graduation, a simple wedding or just as a gift to someone. I made do with what was available but at the same time I managed to decorate it per the current trend.”

The 20-year-old is a full-time student at the University of Seychelles but bakes, and does pedicure on the side which helps her be financially independent.

In line with the Festival’s theme, ‘Aspire’, Ms Joseph urged the youth to foster their given talents.

It is the second time that the SNYC organises the Splash spelling bee, continuing from the immense success of the first one during last year’s Youth Festival.

The event seeks to encourage students to engage in reading and expand their vocabulary.

The first category was for Primary 3 and 4, and was won by Roland Dimgba from Anse Aux Pins primary.

Second place for this category went to Chloe Morel from Baie Ste Anne primary and third place went to Jessica Ramandimbisoa.

Aleesha Azemia from La Rosière aced her words to come out on top for the P5-P6 category followed by Estelle Anacoura from Anse Boileau primary in the second slot and Ezra Hall from Anse Etoile took home the prize for third place.

As for secondary schools, Maeve Pillay from Plaisance secondary won first place in the Secondary 1 and 2 category and Helen Arnephy from Anse Boileau secondary won for the S3-S4 category.

The post-secondary institution category saw Marie-Ella Marie from the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (SITE) come out as the clear winner.

The accompanying photographs show some of the winners.

Elsie Pointe