I just came back from the first night of the 24/7 event. Wow, I have roamed on the over crowded streets of Port Louis for more than 3.5 hours!
Early this morning, I already spotted a few long vehicles which were being decorated in Champs de Mars.
My twitter friends will of course remember, I have been twittering abt this lol! Though they were not exceptionally attractive, they did attract loads of people late in the evening round 1830hrs when the procession left Champs de Mars for the Municipality.
The Police Band, Fire Brigade, Radio Plus, Chinese Dragon groups, “Cracheurs de feu”, Old Volswagen vehicles, Mobile Bibliotheque Van, motocycles and musical groups were part of this procession.
Later, those long vehicles drove around in Port Louis, and they rouse the interest of people… Including me!
I parked my car somewhere in the streets of Port Louis, which were highly guarded by police officers. I walked along the streets and was later joined by Ashvin and Aum. After 2 beers each (in Caudan), we set off again to look for food and check out the new “night life” of Port Louis.
At 8pm, fireworks marked the official opening of the 24/7 event. Immediately, artists started to perform on the different stages which were in front of the Municipal Council, Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis Waterfront and Jardin de la compagnie.
We were impressed by the liveliness and excitement that people showed on the streets. Some areas were overcrowded, others less… Some roads had quite loads of people selling food and other stuff while a few were desert. Some roads had nice attractions like roller skates demos while on some roads (in front of Bramer Bank), a person was performing live with his guitar.
Other interesting points were the MCB HQ with live performance of artists and loads of people were gathered in front of the DCL Shop (near Places D’armes) because of the presence of 2 guys (with whole body painted and doing statue-like positions)!
Just before some mins of rain, we enjoyed a demo session of a group of youngsters doing stunts while being equipped with rollers and cycles!
Here are some amazing shots!
Another impressive show was the “Dragon Dance”.
Finally, we had to walk till Plaine Verte to find some briani, but alas, no “Briani Dek” was seen! We were compelled to eat BBQ, which was nice too.
Reached home around 2330. Nearly 2am, time to go to sleep now…
Have a nice weekend friends, and don’t forget to participate in the 24/7 event!
Yashvinblogs 
Looks like fun! The buzz reminds me of Covent Garden and Picadilly Circus at night! I miss London…and MAURITIUS!! I hope the concerned authorities will be encouraged to adapt this new ‘lifestyle’!
LikeLike
seems nice :)to pas ti cav make some video clips?
LikeLike
@Moody Boo : Its truly a new lifestyle, but I guess that shops did not make big profit since some of them already closed down at around 1030pm. 24/7 is a good way to encourage people to go out and “diverti”!
@Roushdat : Not right now, but one of my colleagues shot only vids, I hope he sends them soon 😉
@Sun, @ritzz : Yeah, a success. HRDC can be proud, thousands of people were on streets yesterday, outside normal office hours.
@Morinn : Hope there’s no rain. Pu casse nissa net!
LikeLike
That looked like a real success..! not just waterfront.. but who port louis..! I guess i’l be going tomorow night. 🙂
Nice pics!
Rock ON!!
LikeLike
Did you, like me, insist on staying and freezing in Leicester Square just so you don’t miss on all the activities around? 🙂
Eddy.
LikeLike
Nice pictures!
The event felt pretty cool for the 24/7 kick off!
LikeLike
OMG! This looks way better than what I had imagined!! Looks really fun!
I missed it yesterday! We did not feel like going after dinner because we were heavy! :p I guess we’ll be going today.
LikeLike
i might go today as well 😛
eh desam osi pu ena sa?seems fun 🙂
LikeLike
@Krishi : Tahey, to dans pli bien Australie toi 😛
Wai, Desam nu ammene toi dans pooja, surement to p bien manque sa lolz
LikeLike
bhai Yashvin, cétais cool le port louis trés animé! et hyper rigolo le mec de Radio Plus qui se promenait dans un véhicule que seul madcarrot66man peut identifier.
Trés étonnant, il y avais beaucoup de monde dans la rue Wellington et au jardin compagnie aussi.
On a mangé du bonne Brochette et pain Kebab Special a Plaine Verte.. Miam Miam…
*********music********** eric triton voice************24/7**********
😀
LikeLike
Oh I was so excited abt it too, yet quite disappointed.
I reached there at about 9.00 something but most shops were closed. Looked for those ‘huge discount givers’ but found nothing.
Yes it was animated but not really as boasted on tv.
@ Yashvin: Maybe the inauguration and first couple of hours were really great, but I went home quite disappointed for I did not even get a glass of Alouda at Bazaar. Thought shops were to be open up to 00:00.
Well, I hope next time they do stick to the opening hours they mentioned.
LikeLike
Actually, this is not 24/7 … 24/7 means that banks should be open as well, isnt it? Not just some clowns dancing up till midnight.
LikeLike
@Bruno : If I am not mistaken, some banks were open!
Some of them had small Inquiry counters on the roads and Bramer had a guitarist just in front of its door.
Only SBM was closed, semi-gouverment 😛
@Mike : yeah, this first experience will introduce this concept to Mauritians and tourists. Some of the shops yesterday have already seen the potential which was not always encouraging. On the other hand, food was highly demanded, everywhere! I heard that 2 big briani deks were finished in less than 30mins!
@TheMadHatter : Yeah, mone blier so nom et aussi nom vehicle la, akoz zotte ti p faire promo pu advertise it. Kebab taaa! Ene grillade or Briani is the best food in these occasions, despite that they are not highly recommended!
@ReenaDKL : The discount available did not really interest me. Though the main concept is about extending financial and economical operations, I am sure most of the mauritians have used this time as an additional leisure time to relax.
LikeLike
Well, I suppose being a first attempt at this, public and commerce will eventually find a balance. However, any initiative like this one is good for the stimulation of the economy. If the capital gets a life after dark then we could see tourists venturing away from the cocoon of their hotels.
LikeLike
Yeah i was there yesterday too!
It was rily fun n had a nice time!!
The first day of the event has defintely showed that it gna be a successsful one as soo many ppl participated n more gna come on during weekend!
Yet, more shops shud have been open,like Happy World, wud have been gud business for themselves, nways hopefully they gna open today coz am going again, lol!
Good work HRDC, keep it up! 🙂
LikeLike
pena option like ici cuma facebook :P!!
aster pa conner if on the long run this will work like it was hier !
LikeLike
woow, looks like an amazing night! would be nice to see Port Louis open til later into the night
“After 2 beers each (in Caudan), we set off ” 😀
LikeLike
I went to Port-Louis yesterday @ 08:00 pm There was traffic jam like on week days mornings @ 08:00 am. 😛
The entrance to Caudan was completely blocked by vehicles trying to get a parking. Vehicles were not moving at all.
I’m sure people came late (or never arrived) at Star cinemas that night.
I also could not get a parking in the center so i went back home after a slow ride through port-louis.
I assume the traffic jam and the no-parking problem is only temporary. Once curiosity fade out, affluence to the city @ night will slowly decrease and we’ll get a normal but ALIVE Port-Louis.
I’m very enthusiast about this 24/7 idea. It felt so secure to be out there at night with so many families walking around. Policemen everywhere. It really reminded me of Dubai @ night.
Glory to Mauritius.
B.
LikeLike
c tro top ce 24/7….sa e vraiment marcher 😛 on n’en croi mem po 😛 il y a tan de monde 😛 lol simpa 😛
LikeLike
were u there on friday btw? cuz in a glance may be i saw you and if its not you then definitely its s1 from college 😛 were u using a camcoder btw? if this guy is you then pictures and reality are two different world definitely cuz the guy i saw out there was s1 from college.
im glad u took out so many pictures out there for such an event..i did not bother even to bring my gear with me :p a’way..
too crowded too many people but it was fun a’way.
hehe check the guitar guy near the bank? there is a coffee shop after the bank thats where i hate :p try it when you have time =) its worth it 🙂 its call africafé 😛
i did some shopping @ DCity :p bought a memory stick for laptops :p and then spent some time near mcdonald and watch place darmes in move :p
a’way was fine 🙂
LikeLike
Nice pics. Did not even suspect there was all this. Thanks for the comments 🙂
LikeLike
It is karavann Productions ( komiko group ) which organised the event.It was really fun and i sincerely hope mauritius turn to a 24/7 economy model. I think some shop owners did not thought an ounce that it will be a great success and have their shops closed. As the french dicton say” les absents ont toujours tort”.
LikeLike
Hey great pics! I took some too but they did not turn out good! loved the event btw. 😀
Mauritius should definitely follow the 24/7 economy trend. It will certainly help many small businesses.
LikeLike