More Than Just a Pretty Face: The Impact and Significance of Pageant and Festival Queens

By Karli Branson

Do me a favor: Set reality aside for a second and see the world through the eyes of a seven year old girl. 

You enter the darkened theater and take a seat in the very front row. The huge seat swallows you and yet, you find a way to fill the space.

You smell a hint of coconut in the mist from the fog machine that makes the light glow so beautifully. Your heart races as you await the final results. The pink hue that captures the room turns into a spotlight as, one by one, the contestants enter the stage. 

The tension rises as a recap of the competition can be heard from the stage. Your feet don’t touch the ground so you swing them back and forth with excited anticipation. You are shaking and you feel your palms sweating as you sit in the audience, alone and ready to take in the winners name at the announcers’ very command. 

And there it is. The winner. The one girl who gets to go home with the title, the flowers, the sash. The sound of screams fills the air as the crowd goes wild, and the winner is crowned. She flaunts her red sequined dress as she walks enchantingly to receive her trophy and make her big debut.

The screaming dies as she approaches the microphone to make her final speech and accept her place in the community. You can sense the other contestant’s defeat and devastation but all that matters to you is the fame that the one girl in the red dress holds.

 You want to be her. The girl who takes home the prize and bathes in the glory. The girl who wins the title, the flowers and the sash. 

However, the journey to earning a tiara is far more complex than just a dream.

Dominating The Competition In Competitive Pageants

Some pageant people crave competition. Some pageant people celebrate culture.

Madison Andrade ‘23 is a girl who crushed the competition and earned the tiara.

On June 10, 2022 Andrade earned the title of Miss Tulare County’s Dairy Princess. A title that she says allows her to, “advocate for the dairy industry and the California Milk Advisory Board.”

Andrade says that her inspiration stemmed from a fellow dance friend who won the Dairy Princess title, but she was further intrigued by the knowledge that her past family members were also involved in the competition. Andrade says, “My aunt tried out to be a Dairy Princess and she didn’t get it so I really wanted to do this for myself but also for my family.”

“ It’s really a privilege to have this title especially since dairy in Tulare is such a big industry.”

Andrade says that she has always had interest in the dairy community and has an agricultural background which also inspired her to enter the competition.

She often speaks at schools and does classroom visits to spread information about what she does as Miss Tulare County’s Dairy Princess . Andrade encourages kids who have this passion to pursue it.

Andrade says, “The kids always ask me if I live in a castle or if there is a Dairy Prince. I interact with them and ask them trivia questions and they are always so happy when they get the answer right.”

“I really want to be a person that little girls and other kids can look up to, and anybody can run so if there is anybody that is interested just go to the link in my instagram bio @dairyprincess_5_south and you can click the form where you answer questions about how you are involved with ag, why you love agriculture and what your drives are for pursuing ag so it is just a lot of that stuff.”

Andrade maintains her reign for one entire year and will give up her title on June 10, 2023.

“It’s bittersweet but it’s been super awesome that I have even gotten the privilege to do this.”

Exploring the Cultural Significance of Festivals and Pageants

Alyssa Sozinho ‘23 is one who embraces her cultural heritage. Every year each town hosts a Portuguese celebration called Festa. This festival occurs through the catholic church where each town appoints a queen, two attendants and a court.

Sozhino says,“ Festa is a celebration through the Catholic church about a miracle that happened so the queen is representative of Queen Elizabeth and her attendants represent the holy trinity. The queen has a crown and her attendants hold scepters and a plate to represent the trinity.

“This represents the miracle where Saint Elizabeth was hiding bread to give to people who didn’t have food. She opened her cloak to show what she was hiding because she thought she would be in trouble but when she opened her cloak, roses fell out so it was a miracle that she didn’t get in trouble for feeding the poor.” 

Sozhino is the Senior Attendant for the town of Tipton. She says, “We do a parade every weekend in different towns and as an attendant I attend to the Queen for Tipton who is actually my cousin. We travel, we go and do a parade, we go to mass and then we go back on the parade and have sopas and feed anyone who comes. We feed the community just like she fed the people.”

“I grew up with this tradition coming from the Azores Islands where I am from. My grandma was a Festa queen and so I always wanted to be a part of this tradition.” 

Sozinho says, “It is such an honor because my mom always wanted to be a Festa queen so it is exciting for me to be able to help her go through that dream and continue it through our last name.”

“My cousin is the incoming senior queen for Visalia so I get to be in her court this season while I finish up my season in Tipton so it has always been a part of my families’ culture,” she says.

As you can see, with the help of these successful young women, (and a seven year-old girl), the pathway to earning a tiara and a title is much more than just a silly little competition. It is a dream and a wish and a plan.

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