Rumours of the demise of the Rose of Tralee seem to be exaggerated!
While some people write it off as being an outdated, “Lovely Girls” Festival, with no relevance to modern Ireland, the facts prove the exact opposite. Not only does it continue to get huge viewership figures each August on RTE television – 2016 will actually see the festival getting bigger!
In previous years, a total of 68 regional Roses was narrowed down to 32, who would then appear on the televised shows on a Monday and Tuesday night. All this, of course, meant that 36 young women never got to experience the magic of Tralee during Festival week, as they ere eliminated the week before at a special event in Portlaoise, and didn’t appear on the TV shows. This year, however, all 68 girls will travel to Tralee, and take part in an elimination contest which will be broadcast on the night of Sunday 21st August by RTE, with the main lives shows going out on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd August as usual.
Not only that, but the lengthening of the festival from a 5 to a 7-day event will see even more visitors flock to Tralee for a week of fun, entertainment and live shows, bringing millions into the local economy. Both current Rose of Tralee Elysha Brennan and its popular host Daithí O Sé welcomed the change, with Daithí saying that “The International Rose of Tralee for 2016 will definitely stand out and will probably have more responsibilies than the past few Roses – but its going to be a great event.”
Elysha was a hugely popular winner in August 2015, and posed for VIP magazine the following month with her mother. Elysha spoke about her brave battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which had been in remission for two years at the time. Elysha played down about her touching story, saying that “I’d like to think that I’m here today because of who I am, and not an experience I had.”