THE birth of what is now known as the Sugar Festival was documented by a The Fiji Times article on April 9, 1958.
It said Hibiscus Festival in Suva was to be held from September 20- 27 and was preceded by a similar event at Lautoka.
The report said the events were not a rival effort.
The organisers of the event in the west, the Lautoka Junior Chamber of Commerce, had consulted the Suva Hibiscus Festival Committee before considering their scheme.
They explained they considered it would create the proper atmosphere for the Hibiscus Festival week in Suva if there was something of a preliminary nature in the North West.
They said this would serve two purposes — it would create in their area an interest in the Suva event, as well as provide for the many people in the North West who could not attend the festival in Suva.
The Suva committee unanimously agreed with the views of the Lautoka Junior Chamber, but requested there be at least one clear week between the end of the Lautoka event and the beginning of the Hibiscus Festival.
The Suva Committee also requested that the name Hibiscus not be used for the Lautoka event as it might cause confusion.
Names tentatively suggested by Suva for the Lautoka event were the Sugar Cane Festival and the Sugar Sweet Festival.
At the time, two competitions were already announced for the Hibiscus Festival in Suva.
One was the Miss Hibiscus competition, for which the first prize was a flight for two by TEAL to New Zealand.
The other, a Hibiscus poster competition in which the first prize was £20, second £10 and third £5. Entries were to close on June 1.
