Picking the top 5 winners from Open Mic's large pool of talent each week is no easy task. With so much talent to choose from it gets harder each week.

Even more difficult was picking the winner of the Open Mic + Blocktrades Steemfest Ticket Giveaway.

Steemfest is the biggest gathering of Steemians of the year held somewhere in the world each November and this year it's in Krakow, Poland. You can read more about this years event at SteemFest³ - Kraków, Poland: 7/8/9/10/11 November (+ Hotel Packages now available).

This year @openmic has partnered with @blocktrades to give a ticket to the week-long event including accommodations to one lucky winner. The contest consisted of two parts and was narrowed down to 10 finalists in part two. You can watch their videos at @Blocktrades + @Openmic: Steem Fest Giveaway - PART 2.

The finalists were:

User	Post
@ewuoso	My entry for the Blocktrades + Open Mic Steem Fest ticket giveaway
@siomarasalmeron	THE THEME IN QUESTION: COMMUNITY COMMITMENT
@raj808	Busking for Steemfest 3 - Custom Poetry
@fingersik	Blocktrades + Open Mic Steem Fest ticket giveaway PART 2
@abh12345	Part 2 post not found
@nnnarvaez	Application for the contest: @Blocktrades + @Openmic: Steem Fest Giveaway - PART 2
@betamusic	Busking for Steemfest 3 - Custom Poetry
@ylich	My entry for the Blocktrades + Open Mic Steem Fest ticket giveaway Part 2
@waybeyondpadthai	Complete honest thoughts 'Why Steem Fest 3?' and how YOUR ENGAGEMENT will help me get there!
@llfarms	My Blocktrades/Openmic SteemFest Giveaway Entry - Round Two
@evecab	Wanna help me get to Steemfest? Openmic & Blocktrades Steemfest Ticket Giveaway - Part 2
@coruscate	Busking for Steemfest 3 - Custom Poetry
@raj808	I Need YOUR Help to Win a Ticket To Steemfest!

998 Comments!

In that post we asked each person to ask their followers and supporters to chime in on the comments explaining why they think each person should win the ticket to Steemfest this year and the post received 998 comments! *Talk about engaging the community!^

Each one of those finalists have crazy support from the Steemit community and we felt proud of all of them after pouring through each and every comment. Their supporters speak volumes on how each one has influenced the Steem blockchain and helped their respective communities thrive and flourish. You really should read those comments to get a feel for what real community engagement on Steemit is and how each one of the finalists have that part of blogging down to a fine art.

They all deserve a ticket to Steemfest for sure and much more. I'm proud of each one of you and wish we could gift all 10 with a ticket but alas, only one was chosen to win the ticket to Steemfest.

And The Winner Is... @coruscate

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I Need YOUR Help to Win a Ticket To Steemfest!

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Congratulations @coruscate and thanks for your continued support, inspiring exuberance, and the fun you bring to the Steemian community. We look forward to meeting you in person in Poland, partying together, and reading your posts about your experience at Steemfest 3.

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We would like to thank each of the wonderful people who took the time to enter this challenge and share your videos about your journey on Steemit. We fell in love with you all and hope to see all of you at Steemfest. Keep your radar on for other Steemfest ticket giveaways that are sure to come before November. May Steem be with you!

I also want to thank @blocktrades and @anomadsoul for helping to sponsor this challenge and everyone in the Open Mic community for your comments and encouragement for everyone who entered. Long Live Open Mic!