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Rose of Tralee Regional Finals offer major tourism boost for Laois and Midlands
ROSES will add a splash of radiant colour to the midlands this June Bank Holiday when the Regional Finals of the Rose of Tralee come to Portlaoise for the fifth consecutive year.
The General Manager of the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Oliver Hurley, said: “This is a major event on the tourism calendar for Co Laois as the event attracts visitors from all over the world. The Regional Finals significantly enhance the profile of the Rose of Tralee while generating a boost to the local economy. We know that our wonderful hosts in Laois will again lay on a spectacular welcome to our 53 Roses, their families and friends who will travel to the event in June.”
The highlight for the Roses will be to find out which of them – seven Irish Roses and 16 International Roses - has progressed to the Rose of Tralee International Festival in August.
This year’s event was launched today by the reigning Rose of Tralee, Tara Talbot in the company of the 2012 Laois Rose Niamh Bracken and the Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council Cllr John Bonham.
The Regional Finals of the Rose of Tralee will bring together Roses from the USA, Ireland, Britain, Europe, Canada and United Arab Emirates and the selection nights on June 1, 2 & 3 will be hosted by Dáithí Ó Sé. It will be Dáithí’s last public engagement before fulfilling his wedding engagement to 2008 New Jersey Rose, Rita Talty in July.
The Laois County Manager, Peter Carey, who also attended today’s launch said: “It is my pleasure to welcome the Irish and International Roses to Portlaoise for what promises to be a spectacular weekend. We are honoured to host an internationally respected festival such as the Regional Finals of the Rose of Tralee and to include it as part of our county’s portfolio of attractions is of tremendous benefit from an economic, social and cultural perspective. For many of our guests, it will be their first ever visit to Ireland and we are delighted to be the first to extend a ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’ to Laois.”
Everyone who visits Portlaoise this June Bank Holiday will experience a carnival atmosphere complete with funfair, musical entertainment for all the family and to top it all off, the Gordon Bennett Irish Classic Car Run which is open to all vintage veteran and classic cars, motorcycles and commercials registered prior to 1980.
The Roses and their families will also visit some well known Laois landmarks such as Castle Durrow, Emo House & Gardens, Killenard Golf Club and a range of entertainment events in the local hostelries.
“We are most grateful to Laois Tourism, Laois County Council, the Portlaoise Heritage Hotel, the Maldron Hotel Portlaoise, Castle Durrow and the entire local business community for their hospitality. The reigning Rose of Tralee, Tara Talbot, will be among the guests of honour taking part in the Vintage Car Rose Parade on Saturday June 2nd,” said Oliver Hurley.
The Regional Finals were introduced in 2004 to offer more people an opportunity to participate in the Rose of Tralee International Festival. This has been a resounding success as the number of Rose Centres has grown to well over 60 and the event is a well-established and prestigious part of the process to finding the next Rose of Tralee.
The 2012 Rose of Tralee International Festival will take place from Friday 17th to Tuesday 21st August.
Little girls jump for joy as Rose of Tralee begins search for 2012 Rose Buds
MAY Day! May Day! The Rose of Tralee International Festival Office phones have started to go bananas as girls, aged between 6 & 12, answer the call to become Rose Buds at this year’s Festival.
The Communications Manager with the Rose of Tralee International Festival, John Drummey, has described the level of enquiries ahead of this week’s Rose Buds launch as phenomenal and he expects it to increase steadily over the coming fortnight.
“The wait is over for all the children who want to apply to become Rose Buds for this year’s Festival. They have spent months pleading with their parents to find out when we would be selecting this year’s 32 lucky Roses of the future. We expect to see hundreds of hits on www.roseoftralee.ie as excited girls start to download the colouring sheets/entry forms,” said John Drummey.
Each girl will need to colour-in a picture that will be inserted into each copy of this week’s edition of The Kerryman and The Corkman newspapers (Wednesday 2ndMay). Colouring sheets can also be downloaded now from www.roseoftralee.ie.
They will then need to send their picture, along with the €5 entry fee to Rose Buds Colouring Competition, Toby World, Mile Height, Tralee, Co Kerry on or before Friday 18th May. The Rose of Tralee International Festival will donate €1 from every entry to the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland.
32 pictures will be chosen at random from all the entries and the lucky artists will become this year’s Rose Buds.
The Rose Buds will be paired with an International Rose, attend the Jedward Concert on Friday 17th August, the first televised selection night in the Dome on Monday 20thAugust, participate in two Rose parades (18th & 19thAugust), enjoy the fun of a week-long Rose Bud Summer Camp from July 2nd and take part in their own Gala Rose Bud evening on Friday July 6th in the Carlton Hotel Tralee.
The Rose of Tralee International Festival team-up with Toby World, The Kerryman & The Corkman newspapers as the Rose Bud partners for 2012.
“Last year more than 700 young girls from all over Ireland and abroad sent in entry forms and the 32 lucky girls who were chosen at random enjoyed a fairytale experience as Rose Buds. The majority of the applications came from Kerry but more than 100 of the entries were sent in from children in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Northern Ireland and the United States,” said Ken Tobin, Toby World Director.
Full details of how to become a Rose Bud are available online at www.roseoftralee.ie and on Facebook, while anyone with queries can email
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The closing date for entries is Friday 18th May and the 32 Rose Buds will be unveiled on Wednesday 23rd May in The Kerryman, The Corkman and on www.roseoftralee.ie.
Rose Buds Search Coming Soon!
The search for 32 Rose Buds is coming soon!
Be sure to visit this website from Wednesday 2nd May to download an entry form to become a Rose Bud at this year's Rose of Tralee International Festival.
Copies of the entry form will also be available in the May 2nd edition of The Kerryman & The Corkman newspapers.
The closing date for receipt of completed entry forms is 5pm on Friday 18th May.
All Rose Bud entrants must be between 6 & 12 years of age before Wednesday 22nd August 2012
It will cost only €5 to enter and €1 from every entry will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland.
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