48th Independence & 24th Republic anniversary celebrations at Champs de Mars

As for the past years (2010 , 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), I went to the official flag raising ceremony held in Champ de Mars. Since I reached there quite late, there was already a big crowd of people but fortunately, I was able to take some shots even from the back. That’s one of the advantages of being tall (but there are disadvantages too). Many people were disappointed because they could not see a thing, not even of the huge screens fixed for the event.

It is a shame that those 2 screens were directly positioned for the VVIPs who were comfortably seated under the chapiteau while the members of the public had to stand in the crowd, without any screen. Unfortunately, this gives the impression that the official ceremony is done only for the VVIPs. If you don’t have that privilege, it is better to stay at home and watch the thing on your tv set. Talking about screens and TV : Yes, that was me in a blue shirt 🙂

Let’s have a look at some of the shots I took before I write on my impressions on the show….

The photo gallery :

 My impressions of the show

After the flag raising, the show was nearly du déjà vue, except for a few things :

• On a few occasions, the helicopters and the planed flew quite low. A total joy to watch and experience, especially for kids.
• No rope descent from the helicopter
• No parachutes
• No défilé of the different units of the police
  Update : Just came across a video with the said défilé

While the performance of the Majorettes (cheerleaders?) was warmly applauded by the public, I hope that in the future, we can have the police officers do their motorcycle show, like many years back.  I can’t even remember when they last participated in the official ceremony.

As for the atmosphere in Champs de Mars, it was quite different from the previous years, especially with the hawkers which invaded this part of the capital. On sale in various corners : Food, drinks, toys and even selfie sticks!

That’s all from me.

Happy 48th anniversary for the Independence and 24th anniversary for the Republic of Mauritius!