The Seychelles aren't the first place you'd associate with big music festivals — and that's a mistake. In early May, Victoria spent three days moving to a reggae beat: Mahé hosted Travayer 2026, and on the opening day alone around five thousand people turned up. For a country whose entire population is under a hundred thousand, that's a telling number.

What Travayer is

The festival has been held every year since 2024 and is timed to International Workers' Day — hence the name: in Creole, "travayer" means "worker". The organisers bring artists from around the world together with local performers on one stage, so the line-up ends up wonderfully mixed, from Caribbean sounds to Seychellois music.

For such a young festival — this was its third edition — an attendance like that means the event has quickly taken root in the islands' calendar.

The headliner

The top name on the bill was Seychellois musician Philippe Toussaint. His style blends reggae, sega and seggae with other Caribbean genres — which is, in a way, the best illustration of how local music works in the first place.

A note for the uninitiated: sega is a traditional dance genre of the Indian Ocean islands, a legacy of enslaved Africans, built on a distinctive rhythm and drums. Seggae is a later hybrid of sega and Jamaican reggae, born on Mauritius. Hearing all of that live in a single set is exactly what a festival like this is for.

Not just music

The programme reaches well beyond concerts. Travayer also features fire shows, a car show and water-sport competitions — closer to a city-wide celebration than a classic music open-air. You can come with the family and stay all day: even if reggae isn't your thing, there's plenty to watch.

Worth planning a trip around?

If you're deciding when to fly to the Seychelles, early May is a good window in general: the north-west monsoon is ending, the sea calms down, and the tourist flow hasn't yet peaked. Travayer adds to that a rare chance to see how the Seychellois themselves unwind, rather than only the hotel guests.

Practical pointers for next year:

  • When: around 1 May, over three days. Exact dates are announced closer to the event.
  • Where: Victoria, Mahé.
  • Note: 1 May is a public holiday, so banks and most shops are closed. Get cash and anything you need in advance.
  • Accommodation: demand on Mahé runs higher than usual over the holiday — book ahead.

We publish announcements of upcoming events on the islands in the Events section.