Revealed: Meet your 2021 Jacaranda Queen candidates

See who’s vying to represent our city and festival, and see the amazing photo shoot and behind the scenes video to introduce them to the town!

For some of them it’s been a wait of more than a year, but now the Jacaranda Festival has revealed the six women vying to be our next Jacaranda Queen.

Along with the newly announced Matron Of Honour all six candidates have been working hard behind the scenes to bring exciting, innovative events to the Clarence Valley community to raise funds for our festival.

It hasn’t been all work and no play! To kick start their Jacaranda journey, Matron of Honour Elect and the candidates took part in a photo shoot right here in our beautiful valley. You can view the amazing behind the scenes video of the shoot day above.

Without further ado, introducing your Jacaranda Queen candidates and Matron of honour elect for 2021!

Enid McKew

Matron of Honour Elect

Enid McKew has been proudly nominated as the 2021 Matron of Honour Elect by her fellow members of the South Grafton Bowling Sports and Recreation Club, where she has been an active member for twenty years. Speaking on her nomination Enid says, “I consider it to be a great honour to have been selected as Matron of Honour Elect for this 2021 Jacaranda Festival. I look forward to getting to know the candidates and being part of their amazing Jacaranda journeys which I believe they will always treasure. Having been part of the subcommittee for the Junior Jacaranda Queen candidates for seven years it has been a wonderful experience to be involved with the Jacaranda Festival. I am very much looking forward to the year ahead and having the opportunity to support our wonderful 2021 Jacaranda Queen Candidates.”

Hanna Craig

Hanna Craig’s love of the Clarence Valley community is her number one reason for signing up as a Jacaranda Queen candidate. Sponsored by BCU, Hanna is looking forward to the challenges she’ll face over the next few months. “I entered the quest to explore and connect with more areas of our town and to allow myself to grow and pursue things I never imagined I would be doing,” she says. Hanna is already an enthusiastic volunteer and supporter of the New School of Arts Neighbourhood House Inc. “Their innovative and out-of-the-box thinking inspires me and has been one of the many reasons I choose to volunteer my time at their events,” she says. Hanna can’t wait to experience all aspects of the Festival. “I love that our community welcomes everyone to come along and celebrate our Queen candidates, our beautiful trees and most importantly our local businesses.”

Ella Gilbert

Ella Gilbert is proudly sponsored by Brewhouse Café. Her drive to promote equal opportunity motivated her to participate in the Jacaranda Queen Quest. She is passionate about equality, saying “no matter your gender, age, nationality or sexuality, everyone should be able to have equal access to work and education.” Ella also hopes that through her candidacy she will gain more confidence in herself and be able to actively engage with the Clarence Valley community. She says, “This journey is about gaining confidence within myself, showing the community (and myself) the best me”. Ella is a second-year nursing student and cannot wait to graduate and commence work as a registered nurse.

Jess Munro

Jess Munro is a proud Gamilaraay woman. She is thrilled to be sponsored by her employer Caringa Australia. Jess, who works as a support worker for people with disability, says “I have always wanted a job that I enjoy going to everyday and I have found one!” Through her candidacy Jess hopes to encourage inclusivity. She says, “I want to motivate all indigenous and ethnically diverse groups in the Clarence Valley to encourage one another to participate in this festival, get among the community and show how culturally diverse our town is”. Through her candidacy Jess aims to make connections with community and engage in meaningful conversations, she says “I want to ask insightful questions when speaking with others, to not only understand their way of thinking, but to get them to think in a new way that helps them grow.”

Breeze Paine

Breeze Paine, proudly sponsored by Summerland Credit Union, is new to the Clarence Valley and is looking forward to being more involved in the community through her Jacaranda Queen candidacy. As a nurse, Breeze is passionate about promoting health and wellbeing. Through her candidacy, Breeze hopes to promote open and honest conversations about typically taboo topics such as miscarriage, infertility, mental health and death and dying. “I want to encourage people, particularly our future leaders, to promote healthy and open conversation around these topics, to negate a lot of the common misconceptions associated with them” she says. Breeze works at Grafton Base Hospital where she is undertaking further education in the field of Acute Care. She hopes to use the interpersonal and public speaking skills developed through her candidacy to advocate for quality health care services in regional and remote Australia.

Ella Sear

Ella is proudly sponsored by Toast Espresso. She hopes that her involvement in the Jacaranda Queen Quest will encourage others to be involved. She says, “I think that by entering the Jacaranda Festival I can show that anyone and everyone can be part of Jacaranda Festival family. I’m all for individuality and embracing who you are, and I hope that by entering I can inspire other young women in the community to become involved with our amazing festival.” Ella is passionate about helping the young people of the Clarence Valley, particularly with mental health issues. She says, “All I really want is to bring people together and put smiles on people’s faces.” She also loves how the Jacaranda Festival brings everyone together, not only from the Clarence Valley community but from all over Australia and around the world, Ella says “it’s a great opportunity to learn about other people, their cultures and their experiences.”

Natalie Van Der Klei

Natalie Van Der Klei is proudly sponsored by her employer CRANES Community Support Programs. Natalie is a passionate advocate for mental health and disability and hopes to further her advocacy in this area through Jacaranda Queen Candidacy. She says “as a person with multiple disabilities and a chronic illness warrior, I am extremely passionate about medical and health care accessibility in regional areas such as the Clarence Valley.” Natalie also has a love of music having trained and performed as a vocalist. In the future Natalie hopes to employ her musical background to promote positive mental health outcomes. She says “I would love to use my experience and education to mesh music and mental health to promote awareness and improved health for members of our community.” Natalie is looking forward to the opportunities, experiences and friendships that being a Jacaranda Queen Candidate will bring.