The Guyana Princess Pageant will hold auditions today at the Theatre Guild Playhouse for interested pre-teen girls.
Applicants are required to be between the ages of eight and 12 years old and must have a talent.
Following the auditions, the selected girls will be presented to the public at the launching of the pageant, which will include a charity fashion show in the Theatre Guild’s Eucalyptus Garden.
The show will feature collections from local designers, some of which are expected to be modelled by children. The event itself will be a day catered towards family fun and will have several fun activities for the children in attendance.
This will be the third edition of the pageant.
The Guyana Princess Pageant was first held under the directorship of Simpli Royal and has since been undertaken by Nandre’s Kreations, spearheaded by Designer Neilson Nurse.
The Disney-themed pageant allows each girl to choose a Disney Princess and highlight the attributes of that princess.
“The idea behind the pageant… if you look back on these Disney movies, they show you strength, poise, kindness and bravery. Many of the princesses had only one parent present in her life. It teaches you to overcome your challenges despite your situations. This is what we want them to learn. This is not a beauty pageant. A lot of the girls came shy and they left more confident and more open. They are more interactive with their parents and we want to motivate them to be better people,” Nurse had said in a previous interview.
Last year’s pageant saw the girls contesting the Introduction, Creative Wear (contestants creating outfits from upcycling materials), Talent, Evening Gown and Question and Answer segments. This year’s edition will bring again all these anticipated segments and comes with a twist.
“This year we will be pushing the envelope for women empowerment. The girls will be tasked with doing research on a few outstanding women and presenting it as part of their Princess Presentation during preliminary judging,” Nurse said. A date for the preliminary competition will be announced at the launch.
All proceeds from the fashion show will go towards displaced radio broadcaster Mia Ritchie-Camacho and her family, who lost their D’Urban Backlands home in a fire sometime last month.
Coronation night is set for August 18 at the National Cultural Centre.
For more information, persons can reach Nurse at guyanaprincess.org@gmail.com or call 667-7181. Auditions begin at 9 am.
