The Rose of Tralee offers an opportunity for Irish descendants to "celebrate their Irishness" and keep the connection to their heritage alive.
That's according to the 1996 Queensland Rose, Samantha Andrew, who was speaking to Newstalk's Josh Crosbie as she attended her 12th Rose of Tralee Festival.
As one of Ireland's oldest and largest festivals, The Rose of Tralee offers international women of Irish descent the opportunity to represent their country and be crowned the Rose.
The competition is not based on appearance, and the winning Rose is selected on the basis of personality.
For Ms Andrews – who runs the Queensland Rose of Tralee Centre – the event allows participants the chance to be "incredibly proud of where you're from".
"The Rose of Tralee is an opportunity for people living outside Ireland to really connect and to have common bonds," she said.
"It's an opportunity to celebrate where we're from and celebrate our Irishness."
🌹 Thousands of people have filled the streets for the Rose of Tralee.
Hear from roses, escorts, supporters and organisers on @NTBreakfast tomorrow morning.
New York Rose - Róisín Wiley says it’s a dream come true to take part. pic.twitter.com/KuJirLyWSM
— Josh Crosbie (@JoshCrosbie3) August 20, 2023
Every year, over 200 men apply to escort the Roses throughout the competition, with the chosen 32 escorts competing in the Benetti Menswear Rose Escort of the Year.
Last night, the escort to the Arizona Rose, Tommy Cunningham from Kildare, took the prize.
Mr Cunningham said the "overarching" responsibility of the role is to "support the Rose and the Roses as a team with the other escorts."
"To be more specific, we have a 'Rose pack' in our jacket 24/7," he said. "We've got plasters, we've got tissues and some perfume."
“It has stood the test of time.”
The Rose of Tralee returns to our screens at 8pm this evening.
Chairman of the festival, Anthony O’ Gara says the new co-hosting format will be interesting to watch.
I’ll be covering the event from Tralee on @TheHardShoulder from 6pm. pic.twitter.com/LTSjgR2Nkv
— Josh Crosbie (@JoshCrosbie3) August 21, 2023
The event saw a wide range of Roses from a variety of "unique backgrounds" take to the stage, Josh told the show.
"You had some of the girls talk about their own experiences of being bullied growing up," he said.
"Another girl spoke about our autism diagnosis. The Philadelphia Rose was diagnosed with ADHD last year and she spoke about her different tattoos."
Families and friends have started to arrive to the Kerry Sports Academy for the @RoseofTralee_ pic.twitter.com/Mk9drLM1E2
— Josh Crosbie (@JoshCrosbie3) August 21, 2023
Hundreds of friends and family members have descended on Tralee town to celebrate the Roses.
Speaking to Josh, Gemma Downey, mother to Down Rose, Nadine Downey, said there is a mixture of nerves and excitement ahead of her daughter's debut tonight.
"It's absolutely lovely to be done at the festival and to experience it from a completely different angle as to what we used to do," she said.
"It's a fantastic festival, we couldn't sing its praises enough."
'She'll be the Rose'
Thomas Wolf, father to the German Rose, Megan Wolf said he has been hoping his daughter would be the German Rose since she was born.
"This is all his fault," said his Irish-born wife. "He was the one, as soon as she was born, he's like, 'She'll be the Rose'. She was like, 'Dad, go away. Leave me alone. It's not gonna happen.'"
"The Irish love it and the Germans haven't a clue what we're talking about."
London Rose, Amy Gillen from Donegal plays her version of Phil Coulter’s - The Town I Loved So Well. pic.twitter.com/H66uckAns6
— Josh Crosbie (@JoshCrosbie3) August 21, 2023
Brian Derring, father to Carlow Rose, Caoimhe Derring said he first attended the competition over 30 years ago.
"I didn't think it'd be back at The Rose of Tralee 20 years after the last time I was here," he said. "It's a big difference to see your daughter up there."
"She's after doing so much work over the last couple of months.
"She's enjoying it and I hope it goes well for her tonight."
The second and final night of the Rose of Tralee Festival 2023 takes place tonight from 8pm through to 11:35pm on RTÉ One, as the winning rose is set to be crowned.
