West Virginia Three Rivers Festival Pageant now taking applications
Dec. 29—FAIRMONT — The 44th annual West Virginia Three Rivers Festival Pageant is accepting applications now until March 11.
The pageants will be held on April 15 and 16 and the festival will be over Memorial Day weekend, May 25 through 27. There are six pageants — Queen for ages 18 to 28, Teen Queen for ages 14 to 19, Junior Teen for ages 11 to 14, Junior Miss for ages eight to 10 and Little Miss for ages five to seven.
The Queen and Teen Queen pageants include three categories — Personal Interview, Personal Sense of Style (Active Wear) and Evening Wear. Junior Royalty pageant contestants compete in Fun Fashion and Evening Wear categories, while Junior Teen contestants also compete in a four minute interview.
"We're always sad to see the six title holders, you know, kind of go on their way, but we're excited to see who the next six title holders will be for their reign this year," Junior Royalty Pageant Director, Pageant Producer and Social Media and Marketing Manager Cody Layton said.
The pageants' dates vary year to year depending on scheduling with the former queens, but they did not cancel a pageant due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Layton said he has been working with pageants since he was around 15 years old and with the Three Rivers Festival Pageant for five years.
Pageants are "just something that's been in my blood and I've always been prone to. When I moved to Fairmont years ago, this is just something that I knew I wanted to be a part of, after I actually attended myself," Layton said.
Layton said he's excited to see everyone compete.
"We have ages from five to 28 who can compete but you know, it's the little ones — our Little Miss, Junior Miss and Junior Teen — that always excites us to see on stage kind of rocking it like the older girls — maybe even a little better," Layton said.
Layton said he is thankful to everyone who helps out with the pageant and festival. Like last year, the pageant will be held at Fairmont Senior High, which Layton said he is thankful to them for allowing the event to be held their again. He is also thankful to their sponsors and the hardworking people who make the event successful.
"The fun part, for me, is the preparation of it all ... then seeing how our work pays off in the end — when we get 40 to 50 contestants from around the state. We've really built it up in the past couple of years, so we just want to continue growing. We're really thankful for our sponsors. ... It's a group effort; one person just can't do all of it," Layton said.
Marcella Yaremchuk, who helped start the festival in 1979, has served as president of the board and directors and is now a chairperson for several events, agreed and added how the festival is great for families.
"If there's good weather, we'll have a big turn out and have a lot of great entertainment booked. There's no charge to going to our festival and that's a real plus. ... It's just a wonderful weekend for families to be together without having to spend a lot of money," Yaremchuk said.
To apply for the contest or for more information, visit their website or Facebook Pages- the Pageant Page and the Festival Page.
Reach me at sshriver@timeswv.com or 304-367-2549.
