Rose of Tralee Regional Finals
| Formation | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Location | |
Official language | English |
Venue | The Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise |
| Website |
roseoftralee |
The Regional Finals were introduced in 2004[1] to offer more people an opportunity to participate in the Rose of Tralee International Festival. It was held every year until 2015 in Portlaoise, Co. Laois on the June Bank Holiday weekend.
In the inaugural Regional Final[2] 14 girls competed for 3 places in the Rose of Tralee International Festival in August. It became bigger each year and in 2015 the Regional Finals brought together 56 Roses from the USA, Ireland, Britain, Europe, Canada and United Arab Emirates. Over 3 selection nights, seven Irish Roses and sixteen International Roses were then selected to progress and join the other 9 Roses at the Rose of Tralee International Festival in August. From 2004 to 2015, the number of Rose Centres grew to over 65 and the event became well established and was a prestigious part of the process to finding the next Rose of Tralee. In 2014 it was announced that the 2015 Regional Finals would be the last,[3] in favour of a revamped selection process held in Tralee.