As the 67th Blossom Festival nears, last year’s winner is encouraging people to get involved with the fun-filled weekend.

Myah Turnbull spoke with The Outlet podcast producer Brent Harbour in today’s episode reflecting on her experiences of the festival while growing up in Central, entering as a princess, and then being crowned queen on the main stage last year.

“It was an amazing experience . . . I was so happy to be involved in all the community events leading up to the day. [I] loved making connections in the community such as the rest homes and the art shows.”

Myah said her advice to people thinking about entering as a princess was to “totally do it”.

“I would never hold back on it and I would tell everyone to get involved. Just be yourself, put yourself out in the community and be really authentic because that's what they're looking for.”

She said the committee and the community support behind the festival were the secret to its endurance and growing attendance numbers. 

“The passion that the community and the committee has for this event is definitely the reason why it's fun and well organised.”

The crowning of the queen has been a feature for the last 67 years. Following tradition, the previous year’s queen crowns the new queen each year. 

Crowned: 2023 Alexandra Blossom Festival Queen Myah Turnbull (centre) with first runner up Tyla Davidson (left) and second runner up Arlia Murphy. PHOTO: James Allan/IMAGE CENTRAL

Like many people with friends and family connections in Central, Myah's looking forward to the festival weekend, where she’ll pass on the crown and listen to the bands.

“The atmosphere is probably my favourite thing. Just seeing everyone in one place is [so] cool.

“I’ve always loved the annual clock race at the Linger and Die [Reserve] on the Friday night, so I definitely would say get along to that.”

Myah has been studying at Otago Polytechnic this year, where she’s completing a New Zealand certificate course in community health and wellbeing - mental health and addiction support.

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