Sunday 12^th October, 2008 - Nadi: Some 3,000 spectators crammed into Lawaqa Park on Saturday night to witness the crowning of  2008 Digicel Coral Coast Carnival queen, with Miss Naviti Resort Karolina Lawakeli taking the main crown and Miss Outrigger Kirti Chand being honoured with the titles Miss Digicel Charity and Miss Digicel Personality.

The huge crowd responded to the announcements with huge cheers and applause before enjoying the entertainment from Digicel’s Music Brand Ambassadors Sammy G, Mr Grin, Red Child and Melita, playing live in Sigatoka for the first time.

Miss Digicel Coral Coast was crowned by the chief guest, the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, whilst Miss Digicel Charity and Miss Digicel Personality were crowned by Digicel Pacific Marketing Director Niamh Byrne.

Ms Byrne spoke of Digicel’s commitment to the community and congratulated the Carnival Association for a very successful week, thanking all those involved behind the scenes that worked so hard to make the event such a fun and worthwhile time for the whole province.

“The Coral Coast Carnival is Digicel’s first sponsorship event since the launch of our mobile phone network in Fiji 10 days ago,” Ms Byrne said in her address. “And it underlines Digicel’s commitment to working with communities throughout the islands of Fiji.”

Ms Byrne also thanked the people of Nadroga-Navosa for the tremendous response that Digicel has received from them and from people all over Fiji since the launch on 1 October which made Fiji the 28^th country worldwide to enjoy Digicel’s mobile phone services.

“The charitable work done by the Association’s executive members to date has been extremely impressive. Digicel is fully committed to assisting in the various community and welfare initiatives that the Association has begun, with the main focus being to build a proper children’s park in Sigatoka,” she said.

The crowning night brought to an end a week of festivities that attracted thousands to the fairground each day with a variety of live events each evening including the popular Digicel Choir Competition, which was won by the Vatukarasa Village Choir.

ENDS

Photo 1 caption:

Digicel Pacific Marketing Director Niamh Byrne is flanked by Miss Digicel Coral Coast Carnival 2008 Karolina Lawakeli of the Naviti Resort (right), and Miss Digicel Personality & Miss Digicel Charity Kirti Chand of the Outrigger Resort.

Photo 2 caption:

(l-r) Niamh Byrne (Marketing Director Digicel Pacific), Miss Digicel Coral Coast 2008, Karolina Lawakeli (Miss Naviti Resort), Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Miss National Road Safety Council, Thelma Langi (1st runner up), Miss Digicel Personality & Miss Digicel Charity, Kirti Chand (Miss Outrigger), Miss Fijian Resort, Lusiana Lalabalavu (2nd runner up), Sigatoka Mayor Ratu Isikeli Tasere, and Association President Ratu Jolame Lewanavanua. (Other photos available on request.)

ABOUT DIGICEL PACIFIC

Since its launch in the South Pacific in November 2006, Digicel has become the fastest-growing mobile operator in the Pacific, with current operations in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

Digicel has contributed to the 0.7% growth to the GDP of Papua New Guinea since its launch as the second mobile operator in July 2007.

Digicel is the largest operator in the Caribbean operating in 23 markets and rolling out new operations in Central America. The company is renowned for competitive rates, unbeatable coverage, and superior customer care, a wide variety of products and services, and state-of-the-art handsets.

Digicel is proud sponsor of several national rugby teams across the South Pacific including; Fiji Rugby, Digicel Fiji 7s, Digicel Samoa 7s and 15s, Digicel Tonga Ikale Tahi 7s and 15s, Digicel Vanuatu 7s and 15s and the Digicel PNG Pukpuks. Digicel is also the proud sponsor of the Vanuatu Cricket team. For more information, please visit http://www.digicelpacific.com/.