Tralee Roses glow and grow

Tralee Roses glow and grow Rebecca Mazza from North Perth but family roots in Kanturk, Co. Cork has had the great distinction and life changing pleasure of being an Australian Rose of Tralee – the Sydney Rose to be precise. An incredible experience for any young woman in a ‘normal’ year it has been an extra-ordinary one for Rebecca and the other 2019 Roses who have had their time and title both cut short and extended by the global Covid-19 pandemic. At a recent gala event in Sydney Rebecca was finally able to pass on the baton to the next Sydney Rose Mairéad Brennan (Maud) and while the whole thing has been a life changing whirlwind but her Tralee adventure isn’t quite over yet. “I think for me definitely one of the highlights was when I was originally selected,” the 27 year old speech therapist told Irish Scene. Readers were first introduced to Rebecca three years ago, in the 2019 July/August edition ‘Perth girl will be Rose fo Tralee for Sydney’. “Its strange because as soon as they called out my name I don’t remember anything, I don’t think I really believed in myself at all. I remember when mum and dad came over I said was doing the Rose of Tralee. I was doing it to make friends and have fun because I had just moved to a new city Sydney and gotten a job. I’m not going to win it or anything but come along it’ll be a good night and then when they called my name it was like...what the hell?...I think it made me realise something about going on stage and talking about myself. I think it is a very Australian thing... the tall poppy syndrome...you don’t want to draw attention to yourself or beat your own drum and you can fall into that trap….but it is also something that can reaffirm, that yes, I am capable of doing this and more and performed in Ireland, give a speech in front of 500 people, done live radio and all this stuff it gives you confidence in your day to day and this whole experience has given me. The nerves never go away completely but you know you are capable of it and you will get through it. That’s what I learned and cherished the most from this experience, it challenged me.” She wasn’t the only one she had to convince. “All my Australian friends asked me why did I enter a beauty pageant. I think its the image of the sash and the dress. I told them it was nothing like that and when they came to the Sydney selection they realised that because they were imagining some fashion catwalk or something like that. Its just ordinary women, with some Irish heritage of course, but it doesn’t

matter what you look like, its about your personality, your story and how you represent your country or county. I think that giving women a chance to tell their story is a really powerful thing and it really has a special place in my heart.” Like her counterparts, Rebecca has had longer than the normal 12 month stint of being a Rose to reflect on everything. One of her highlights happened in March. “New York was the best, after everything you couldn’t beat that. I finally got to do the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York this year, which was amazing. Its pouring down with rain, its freezing cold and yet the streets are lined with people waving at you. It was just incredible especially after two years of lockdowns. I remember at one point the Arizona Rose was in front of me and the Kilkenny Rose was on the other side and we were walking along... all these different accents and it was great to see everybody again...it was so surreal to be walking down Fifth Avenue but a great, great experience. It kind of reminded me of what Tralee was like, nobody can prepare you for it. I had Maud over for dinner recently and you try to explain it someone but nothing can quite prepare you for it. You go into this small town, you put on this sash and suddenly you become this celebrity for a week, its mind boggling, its fantastic but it is completely crazy at the same time. Kids are coming up to you for autographs and photos and you’re just thinking to yourself

I’m just some random chick from Australia, its just insane,” she laughed. The 2019 Rose of Tralee was a milestone one for the international festival as it was the 60th anniversary. It was also significant for other reasons. It would be the last Rose festival for some time for reasons that would soon become apparent. “After Tralee I went back [to Perth] for a reunion over Christmas and New Year,

just before everything went into lock-down. I was meant to go to New York in March 2020 for St. Patrick’s Day and of course that was a no go for obvious reasons.” After the six week lock down in Perth she returned to Sydney where she would experience more extended lockdowns that spoiled what should have been a fun filled and active period as a Rose. “I did a couple of radio pieces but there wasn’t anything going on, and when events were organised they had to be cancelled, it was just dead and it got to the point where spirits were pretty well dampened by it all.” By good fortune she said the Landsdowne Club in Sydney were able to hold their iconic St. Patrick’s Day lunch events and she took part in the festival “in the pouring rain” walking and talking with people alongside a committee member dressed as St Patrick himself. Another thing that changed in 2019 was the format of the competition itself. The number of Roses taking part in 2019 was capped at 32 with some locations – such as Perth – being assured of a place every second year. Rebecca said

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this made a positive difference for everyone involved. “We had a great group, everyone got on well and we had the best time. We had 32 Roses but in previous years there were 64, which they would cut in half that week and it could cause some dramas. You might have a situation where you were sharing a room with a girl who didn’t’ get through to the TV night but they would still have to go to all these events . Can you imagine coming all the way from Perth, Sydney or definitely any of the Australian Roses and how disappointing it would be to come all that way to get rejected for the televised event, it would be disheartening to say the least. I talked to girls from previous years and it would cause such rifts, so its real good that’s in the past now”. Rebecca will bring her experience and understanding of being a Rose to Tralee in August but in a different capacity. She will be there as a representative of the Sydney Rose Centre and there to support Maud and help everything everyone have the best experience they can. “I’m not in the spotlight this time, I’ll be more behind the scenes,” she added. “I told Maud there’s not much time. I hardly saw my own family throughout the festival because its so go go go. Every day there is so much on and you do one event and then you are whisked off to the next one and they you have formal dinners so you have to get ready for that quickly as well, so there’s always a lot going on.” With the whole week likely to pass by in the blink of an eye what would you say to any girl going forward as a Rose Irish Scene asked Rebecca?. “I would definitely say just try to relax and enjoy the ride, enjoy the process, enjoy all the events, try not to get caught up in the more frivolous things. And don’t look at the bookies, there’s no point. Its full on, just don’t look at it. I think I looked at it afterwards and I was somewhere in the middle. I was happy with that, not that it matters anyhow... who cares?.” She also strongly suggests that if they can Roses should if they can spend some time hanging around after all the fuss has died down. “Make sure you’ve got some time after the festival as well, so that you are not going home on the last day. That’s when you really get to know everyone when everything is over and everyone can be relaxed.” Good advice for any and all Roses of course, but particularly for our Olivia Duffy, from Co. Meath, who is going forward as the Perth Rose in August 2022. Go n-eirí an t-ádh leat! (Good luck to you!)

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