Dairy Festival set June 9-17

This year’s Hopkins County Dairy Festival will span June 9-17, kicking off with the official ribbon cutting at noon Friday, and continuing Friday and Saturday with the parade and Dairy Airs Hot Air Balloon Rally and Glow, and, of course, the Saturday morning parade. The 2023 salute to those hard working dairy families in Hopkins County will include a carnival, Junior Dairy Show and culminate Saturday evening, June 17, with the Dairy Festival Pageant and Queen’s Coronation.

While still nearly three months out, the pageant contestants Monday night learned more about their responsibilities during a reception at Southwest Dairy Center for contestants, parents and festival board members, and to get to know each other better.

As of March 20, a dozen young ladies attending Hopkins County schools had signed up to compete for the title of Hopkins County Dairy Festival Queen and event coordinators have a waiting list with at least three juniors ready to step in should any of the participants for any reason decide over the next month not to participate or for whatever reason are unable to do so.

Each contestant will be responsible for not only decorating a single axle float featuring the 2023 western theme, “Kickin’ it up for dairy!” which they will ride on in the June 10 parade, but each is also tasked with selling a minimum of 100 tickets to the June 17 pageant, which they will spend most of the week practicing to compete in. Each pageant participant will help out at and attend the various events, and she and her parents will each compete in a milking contest. Parents are also encouraged to get involved with the Dairy Festival, serving as volunteers throughout the events, especially the balloon rally.

While the parade, milking contest, event participation and ticket sales are mandatory, they will not directly count toward points at the pageant which will determine which young lady will wear the crown and represent the community for the next year at ribbon cuttings and community events. Bragging rights will be awarded for the contestant who has the best float, as well as the young lady who sells the most pageant tickets. The contestant who collects the most milk in her bucket will also be recognized, as will the contestant’s parents whose bucket weighs the most after milking a cow. Balloon pilots who wish to do so are expected to have an opportunity to try their hand milking a cow, for bragging rights for the next 12 months. First through third place in the June 10 milking contests will be recognized.

Dairy Festival Queen Colbie Glenn told the girls that the most important thing is to enjoy what will be a lot of fun. She noted participating in the 2022 Dairy Festival pageant as a contestant is an experience she’d do again, even if she couldn’t win, because she enjoyed it so much.

She also reminds the girls of the importance of sunscreen during all outdoor appearances. The 2022 Dairy Festival Queen noted she and her helpers had to get creative in order to disguise her sunburn during the pageant, especially the evening gown contest.

Pageant coordinators Cindy Lancaster and Brooke Howard also emphasized while being part of the Dairy Festival pageant is a lot of responsibility, it is an opportunity for contestants to represent the dairy industry and Hopkins County during the festival, meet other young ladies who are participating. Several participants are following a family tradition, as several have had either sisters, parents, aunts and other relatives who have participated in the pageant, while others saw how much fun Queen Colbie or other friends have enjoyed while competing in the pageant. It’s not uncommon for contestants to have previously participated in the parade and pageant as “Little Kids,” children up to age 7 selected to participate in the pageant with their own smaller parade conveyance and a role in the pageant.

Each girl received a biography form to complete so that information can be announced about them as they show off their outfits in the pageant, and so that it can be disseminated to local media including the newspaper to let the community know a little bit more about each contestant.

To participate, each contestant must also provide three letters of recommendation from a community member, a personal contact and a school teacher or counselor. All bio forms, recommendation letters and other documentation presented to contestants Monday are due in no later than April 18.

All tickets are due in no later than 6 p.m. June 15. Each girl receives 150 tickets but is required to sell only 100. Any of the 100 not sold will have to be paid for by the contestant and her family. The girls selling the top tickets will receive gift cards. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

Each pageant contestant will spend Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday rehearsing, with full dress rehearsal for girls and their dads on June 17.

Each pageant contestant will be scored based on their judges’ interview with a panel of five judges prior to the pageant, casual and evening gown competition, and a 2-3 minute talent performance.

The young lady named 2023 Hopkins County Dairy Festival Queen on June 16 will receive a $1,250 scholarship, to be distributed in increments of $625 per semester their first year after graduating to attend an accredited university or postsecondary school. The first runner up will receive a $1,000 scholarship, with $750 awarded to the second runner up and $500 to the third runner up. The talent contest winner will also receive a $500 scholarship.

The winner’s photo will also be displayed among the wall of honor, which features the five most recent Dairy Festival queens.

The 12 young ladies attending the contestants’ reception and orientation March 20 included Talley Brown, Katlyn Noe, Lorelai Lilley, Addison Graves, Tomi Pirtle, Caroline Prickette, Sara Voss, Emerson Penny, Kate Monk, Alexis Villarino, Logan McCain and Allece Johnson.