The West Virginia Poultry Pageant is a preliminary pageant for the Miss division winner (age 16-21) to compete at the annual West Virginia Association of Fairs and Festivals state pageant. The WVAFF pageant is held during the Association’s yearly meeting in January. There is strict criteria for a fair or festival to be eligible to send a participant to the WVAFF pageant.
The goal for the WVPA queens is to represent the WV poultry industry, not just at the WVAFF pageant in January but throughout the year, whether this be through events held by the WVPA or local fairs, parades, other pageants, and events.
The WV Poultry industry is growing, and being that we are in the heart of the south branch valley (the poultry capital of WV), we can bring opportunities to young women to network with people outside of their social circles and gain experience (public speaking, public relations, etiquette). The WVPA runs the poultry building at the WV State Fair, and the queens are invited and accommodated by the WVPA to attend the WV State Fair to be able to let all visitors know how important the WV Poultry industry is!
I (Madison Gregory) volunteered to be the interim director of the Poultry Pageant to ensure it was able to continue. The Poultry industry is huge for the state of WV, and this pageant has the opportunity to be something big, just as the coal festival is important to the state of WV. The typical phases of pageant competition include: interview, an opening number, evening gown, and on-stage interview. I wanted the contestants for the WV Poultry Pageant to be reminded who they represent if they are crowned as a Poultry Queen this year. So I added a special phase of competition to this year’s pageant called “Farmer Fashion”. The Miss (16-21), Teen (13-15), and Pre-Teen (10-12) will compete in this category and will be able to showcase their uniqueness and style with what they interpret as “Farmer Fashion”. They can have as much fun as they want with this category, and I can not wait to see what some of these girls have come up with!
Our older contestants will begin competition on June 28 at 6 pm, and we would love for everyone to come out and support these young women. On June 29, we will welcome the smallest poultry contestants to the stage at 11 am. Both pageants are being held at Moorefield High School, and the winners of the pageant will be seen all week long during the poultry festival!
With kind regards,
Judy Hesse, Exec. Secretary, WVPA
