The staff of world renowned pearl farmers J Hunter Pearls (Fiji) Limited welcomed the contestants of the Vodafone Festival of the Friendly North on their tour of the town of Savusavu on Saturday.

J Hunter Pearls (Fiji) Limited financial controller Munesh Sharma said they were thrilled to host the visit from the Labasa contestants in their showroom.

“We showed them the whole processes involved to produce Fiji pearls,” Mr Sharma said.

“This is the first time we have hosted the contestants and we were glad to have them.”

The visit at the pearl farm was part of the one day educational tour of Savusavu organised by the Labasa festival committee.

Committee media liaison officer Vincent Sahayam said there were 11 queen contestants and five king contestants who took part in the tour.

“We were hosted by Vodafone Savusavu Hidden Paradise Carnival committee where their reigning queen Lusiana Mulo who will be participating in the upcoming Miss Fiji Pageant shared her experience to encourage the contestants,” Mr Sahayam said.

“Then we went to Savusavu Town Council, Koro Sun Resort, Namale Resort for a photo shoot, J Hunter Pearl Fiji Limited, Jean Michel Cousteau Resort and ended the tour at Nawi Island.

“The Savusavu tour is an annual programme in our calendar which we use to promote our festival.

“There are many local groups, businesses and organisations in Savusavu that have been supporting our festival and we are thankful to them.”

Although the weeklong festival will be held at Subrail Park in Labasa starting from August 19, it is organised for everyone in the North.

“It is not confined to Labasa people, it is for everyone and hence this is why we included the Savusavu tour in our programme so that the contestants understand this insight,” Mr Sahayam said.

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

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