Creole culture, language and food on Praslin and La Digue

What language do people speak on Praslin and La Digue?

Seychellois Creole, Kreol Seselwa, is the everyday language on both islands. The Constitution makes Creole, English and French the three national languages of Seychelles, and says anyone may use any of them for any purpose, although a law may set which language is used for a specific purpose.

The 2022 census found Creole was the first language spoken at home for 85.1 per cent of people nationally, and for 93.7 per cent of Seychellois; English came second at 8 per cent and French at 0.5 per cent. On Praslin, 5,956 of the 7,566 residents aged three and over named Creole as their first home language; on La Digue the figure was 2,310 of 3,013 (National Bureau of Statistics). Both island totals include residents whose language was not recorded.

Creole is French-based, and Tourism Seychelles notes that it is written the way it is pronounced. The Seychelles Creole Academy (Lakademi Kreol Sesel), formerly the Creole Institute, keeps a documentation centre on the language at Providence, Mahé, and Seychelles marks the International Day of Creole Languages and Culture on 28 October.

Useful Kreol phrases for visitors

A few words of Kreol go a long way. The phrases below come from a Tourism Seychelles phrase list.

• Bonzour: good morning
• Mersi: thank you
• Silvouple: please
• Komman sava? How are you?
• Byen mersi, oumenm? Fine, thank you, and you?
• Konbyen sa? How much is this?
• Mon pa konpran: I don't understand
• Eski ou koz Angle? Do you speak English?
• Orevwar: goodbye

What is Seychellois Creole food?

Creole cooking in Seychelles is built on fish, rice, coconut milk, spices and local starches such as breadfruit, cassava and plantain. Tourism Seychelles traces it to five influences: French, African, Indian, Malagasy and Chinese.

Dishes to look for, as the tourism department describes them in Seychelles Nation:

• Pwason griye (grilled fish): freshly caught fish cooked on an open grill with crushed chilli, garlic and ginger, served with rice or sweet potato and tomato chutney.
• Kari koko zourit (octopus curry): octopus boiled, then cooked in coconut milk with spices; each household has its own version. Tourism Seychelles says octopus is still gathered by reef gleaning.
• Ladob: plantain, breadfruit and cassava simmered in coconut milk with nutmeg and vanilla as a dessert, or with salted fish and salt as a savoury dish.
• Bouyon bred: a light broth of greens, often moringa (bred mouroum).
• Pwason sale (salted fish): sun-dried and used in chutneys, curries and rougay.

Breadfruit appears in seasonal bursts, often twice a year (Tourism Seychelles), and Heritage Section recipes serve it boiled with curries or mashed into fish balls. Tourism Seychelles says Seychellois eat nearly 90 kg of fish per person a year.

On La Digue, look for gato kalou, a cake made with calou (palm toddy) that Tourism Seychelles describes as a recipe passed down rather than written, and one to taste on the island itself.

Shark chutney and the rules on sharks

Satini reken, shark chutney, is a staple Creole dish (Seychelles Nation), and the fisheries authority has said shark meat will stay available. Seychellois chutneys are made fresh from green fruit, vegetables or fish and eaten the same day (Tourism Seychelles).

The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) said in 2023 that the shark co-management plan it would start drafting with stakeholders the following year would not stop people eating shark meat. At that time, rules on the use of nets were the only measure the SFA had to regulate shark fishing, apart from consultation with stakeholders; licences for industrial shark fishing were not being granted, and recreational fishers were not licensed to sell their catch. The SFA urged recreational fishers not to catch bull sharks, which come into shallow coastal waters in September and October to give birth.

If you want to take fish home, Tourism Seychelles says fish and fishery products need an SFA export permit, plus a Seychelles Bureau of Standards health certificate if meant for eating.

Moutya, sega and traditional music

Moutya is the traditional drum dance of Seychelles, and UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2021. Tourism Seychelles names sega and kontredans as the other two traditional genres.

UNESCO's description says moutya was brought by enslaved Africans who danced it at night in the forest, away from the plantation house. The goat-hide drums are warmed over a bonfire, the drummers set the beat, men call out themes, usually social commentary, and female dancers respond. Tourism Seychelles adds that the rhythm has roots in the sega of Réunion and Mauritius.

The history touches both islands. A 1935 drums regulation banned drumming after 9pm in Victoria and other places on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. It was repealed on 30 August 2018 (Seychelles Nation).

Tourism Seychelles describes sega as coming from the enslaved populations of Mauritius and Réunion, and kontredans as a paired dance with French court origins, led by a caller playing the triangle. Kanmtole bands play for waltzes, polkas and kontredans. Seggae and mouggae blend sega and moutya with reggae. Norville Ernesta (1949–2025), a singer from La Digue, helped keep moutya alive and contributed to the UNESCO nomination.

When is Festival Kreol?

Festival Kreol is held each October, with events on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. It began in 1985, and the 40th edition took place in 2025 (Seychelles Nation; Tourism Seychelles).

Sources differ on length: one Tourism Seychelles page calls it week-long, its events calendar gives 8 to 31 October, and the 2024 programme ran from 5 to 31 October (Seychelles Nation). Tourism Seychelles lists regular events including Laserenad, a costumed parade; Tifin, a wedding held in the old style; and Dimans Kreol Borlanmer, a beach day with Creole music, pirogue and raft races, coconut tree climbing and food stalls.

In 2019 Seychelles Nation reported La Digue's programme: food sales at La Passe, a Fon Lanmal fashion show and a Dimans Kreol Borlanmer at L'Union Estate. Praslin held food sales at the Grand Anse district office, an opening night on Eve Island, a Laserenad from St Joseph to Amitié and an afternoon of traditional games and moutya at Grand Anse. Programmes change yearly.

The Feast of the Assumption on La Digue, 15 August

The Feast of the Assumption on 15 August, locally Lafet La Digue, is La Digue's busiest time of year and a public holiday across Seychelles. It combines an open-air Mass, a procession and days of music, food and sport.

Tourism Seychelles describes an open-air Mass at the grotto, followed by a procession carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary and a Mass led by the Bishop at St Mary's Church. Afterwards the streets fill with food stalls, live music, climbing a greased tree trunk, duck races and pageants. The 2026 feast ran from 14 to 16 August. Many Diguois living on Mahé and Praslin return home for it.

Accommodation books out quickly; Tourism Seychelles says the ferry operators usually add Praslin to La Digue crossings on 14 and 15 August. In 2025 leisure boats under seven metres, including jet skis, were barred from travelling from Mahé to Praslin and La Digue over the feast weekend.

Catholic heritage on Praslin and La Digue

Catholicism is the largest religion in Seychelles and on both Praslin and La Digue. The 2022 census recorded 61.3 per cent of the population as Catholic, down from 76.2 per cent in 2010. A Tourism Seychelles page gives "well over 90 per cent", which the census does not support.

The census counted 4,086 Catholics among Praslin's 7,882 residents and 1,989 among La Digue's 3,133. Nationally, 11.5 per cent have no religion recorded, mainly because institutional residents got a shorter questionnaire.

On La Digue, Tourism Seychelles describes the Notre Dame de l'Assomption church as the island's first Catholic church, built in 1864. Tony Mathiot, writing for the national culture institute, gives other dates: the parish from 1853 and the church of Our Lady of Assumption at Anse Réunion from 1898. Seychelles Nation and Tourism Seychelles also refer to St Mary's Church. The National Heritage inventory counts churches, grottoes and a missionary residence at La Passe, Anse Gros Roche, Anse Réunion and L'Union. On Praslin, the Anse Boudin chapel on the north-east coast, designed by Swiss architect Jean-Pierre Friedli and blessed on 1 April 1973 by Mgr Gervais Aeby, is a national monument. Tourism Seychelles says First Communions are celebrated from October to December.

Are there still ox carts on La Digue?

Only just. Ox carts were once La Digue's main form of transport apart from bicycles, but by 2022 one operator remained, working only for wedding planners.

The transport ministry called the service "completely on the decline" in 2022 and said something had to be done to revive it as part of the island's culture. That year L'Union Estate announced plans that included ox-cart tours. The National Heritage inventory lists an ox-cart route and old roads at La Passe and Anse Patate. In La Passe, a black bull statue by Joseph Norah, unveiled in 2025, marks the oxen's place in island life.

Where to experience Creole culture on Praslin and La Digue

The easiest ways in are the quarterly Creole Rendezvous community events, the Praslin Museum and Creole restaurants.

• Rendezvous Diguois, L'Union Estate: Creole music, dance, food and crafts; Tourism Seychelles lists it for the last Saturday of March, June, September and December. The December 2025 edition included moutya performances.
• Rendezvous Praslinois: relaunched at Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve in July 2026 with traditional food, crafts and coco de mer storytelling by the Seychelles Islands Foundation.
• Praslin Museum, near Côte d'Or: traditional tools and cooking, musical instruments made from coco de mer shells, and Creole cooking lessons.
• Creole restaurants: Tourism Seychelles singles out Chez Jules on La Digue for octopus curry; see this site's guides to Creole food on Praslin and La Digue.