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Frequently asked questions
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The Miss VietFest Pageant returns toTysons Corner for its 10th year! In addition, the main Miss VietFest Queen, 1st princess, and 2nd princess will earn scholarships and have an opportunity to compete in a state level competition in the DC/MD/VA area. We are excited to send our winners to represent the community in these prestigious competitions.
The Miss VietFest team is excited to once again bring back the talent, swimwear, and runway portion to the Miss VietFest competition! These three competition areas will take place on the first day of the Miss VietFest United States competition.
Talent will be judged by the contestant’s enthusiasm, contestant’s display of confidence, and audience engagement. We accept all types of talents, such as singing, dancing, martial arts demonstration, poetry recitation, and more.
Swimwear portion will be judged based on the individual’s confidence, style, and healthy physique.
Runway will be judged on the individual’s creative and unique style, as well as a strong and confident runway walk.
All participants must enter at least one and no more than two of the three competition areas. If contestant enters into two competition areas: the highest score will be chosen to be added into the overall score.
On the finale day of Miss VietFest United States, contestants will compete in evening gown, ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress), Vietnamese proverb presentation, and On-Stage Question. The evening gown and ao dai portions will be judged based on style, confidence, and presentation. Vietnamese Proverb and On-Stage Question portions will be judged on confidence and reasoning and content of answer.
1. Must be at least 50% Asian descent and at least 25% Vietnamese
2. 18-32 years of age at time of competition
3. Is single, not married, has never been married, and has never had children
4. Has never posed nude in film or print media
5. Has never given birth
6. Reside, attend school, or work in the Mid-Atlantic Region — Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or the District of Columbia
7. Is a Citizen or Permanent Resident of the United States, by proof of documentation
8. Must be willing to compete in a state preliminary for Virginia, Maryland, or District of Columbia
Yes, the non-refundable registration fee for the Miss VietFest Pageant is $35 and is payable through PayPal. The entry fee can be paid by you, sponsors, family, or friends. The registration fee helps fund the pageant production.
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No experience necessary! Most of our participants have never competed before. It takes confidence, elegance, poise, personality, and intelligence to compete in a pageant, not experience. The Miss VietFest team is committed that all contestants learn and develop personally and professionally throughout the competition. We provide walking, modeling, and public speaking workshops from professionals and pageant queens from other pageant systems such as Miss World Org, Miss United States Org, and Miss Earth Org. You are receiving training from the best, valued at hundreds of dollars.
The Miss VietFest Pageant is open to all Vietnamese-American women who live, work, or go to school in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina Pennsylvania, or West Virginia. Note that all participants must be able to make mandatory meet-ups and be present for the pageant. Each participant is responsible for her travel and lodging.
The Miss VietFest Pageant, pageant meet-ups, and royal court appearances will be held in the DC-metropolitan area. Titleholders are ultimately responsible for appearances near their location. For example, if you reside in southern Virginia, as a titleholder, you should seek out events in southern VA to make appearances to with a crown and/or sash.
• Gain new friendships through the competition. One of the many wonderful things about the Miss VietFest Pageant is the strong bonds forged during practices, meetings, and on the day of the pageant. We encourage camaraderie and helping each other to improve throughout the Miss VietFest Pageant experience. Most importantly, we encourage sisterhood and lifelong friendship.
• Reconnect with the Vietnamese culture. Through the Vietnamese Proverb competition, contestants must research a Vietnamese proverb and reflect on why the proverb is meaningful to them. We encourage contestants to discuss with family and friends about the proverb and our culture
• Improve your public speaking and interviewing skills. Strong communication skills are needed in any field of work, not just in pageantry. We provide a public speaking workshop and practices so you will feel confident when you’re holding the microphone on stage. If you can nail a pageant interview and on stage question, you can nail any job interview.
• Gain networking opportunities with NOVAL-DC partners. Knowing the right people and having the right connections are essential to success. By joining the Miss VietFest Pageant, you are joining the NOVAL-DC family. You will have opportunities to connect with our community and professional partners.
• Gain modeling experience. As a contestant, you have the opportunity to partake in our contestant photo shoot and contestant video. We provide workshops on how to walk, pose, and model in ao dai and evening gown.
• Gain pageant experience. We encourage all contestants to continue onto pageantry and grow from the Miss VietFest Pageant experience. The Miss VietFest team is comprised for former and current titleholders from the Miss VietFest Pageant system as well as winners from the Miss United States Organization. With knowledge from both Vietnamese pageants and American pageant system, the Miss VietFest Pageant team will provide workshops on how to prepare and compete in other systems.
• Be a role model. All Miss VietFest Pageant contestants are ambassadors of the Vietnamese community. As a contestant, you are encouraging other young women and girls to take risks, follow their dreams and aspiration, and to grow and learn from their experience. We are proud of all our Miss VietFest contestants (past and current) and we will continue to support your endeavors before, during, and after the pageant.
There are few mandatory meetings such as the initial meet & greet, learning stage formation, and rehearsal. Catwalk and posing practices are mostly optional. Most mandatory meetings will take place on the weekends around the afternoon but practices are scheduled based on contestant availability. As with most life events and commitments, the more time you put into the process, the more you will get out of it.
YES! We understand that not everyone has stage experience. We will reserve time to help you feel and look confident on stage through your walk and posing. The Miss VietFest Pageant team is here to assist you every step of the way. Our team consists of current and former VietFest titleholders as well as local and state titleholders from the Miss United States Organization.
No, you don’t have to speak Vietnamese to compete. There is no preference if you speak Vietnamese or English during the competition. We do ask during the proverb section of the competition, you say your Vietnamese proverb in Vietnamese, but then you may explain your proverb in either Vietnamese or English. Your scores will not be affected by the language you speak during the Proverb or Q&A section. Your score will be based on how well you answered the question, how confident you were in your answer, and if your answer was well-reasoned.
Each contestant should have an ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) and floor-length evening gown for the competition. A swimsuit is also needed if you are competing in the optional swimwear competition. A performance outfit is also needed if you are competing in the optional talent competition. A runway outfit, either bought or made, is needed for the runway competition.
Each participant is ultimately responsible for her own wardrobe for the competition. However, the pageant team understands that these clothing items will not always be easily available to everyone. It is a personal choice if you want to buy new outfits for the pageant but it is NOT required for you to buy anything new. If you do not have an ao dai or evening gown, we encourage you to borrow ao dais and evening gowns from friends or family or reuse an existing ao dai or prom dress. We highly recommend that each contestant dry clean each borrowed outfit as a courtesy to their lender.
The Miss VietFest pageant team will be available to answer your questions regarding outfits. We may assist in obtaining borrowed outfits but it is not guaranteed we will be able to lend you an outfit.
Remember, the judges will be looking at the confident woman wearing the outfit, not the outfit itself. Choose the dress you feel most confident in.
Tattoos and piercing are a statement of your individuality, and to this point we have not prohibited anyone from entering the pageant because of them. Judges are not told to look upon someone negatively because of tattoos or piercing, but judging is a subjective process done by each individual differently.
Should you feel that your tattoo might be offensive, you may want to make sure it is covered by your gown, ao dai, or body makeup. If you are uncomfortable with your naval piercing, you may want to make sure your wardrobe covers it, replace it with something smaller and less noticeable or remove it completely for pageant weekend.
Yes. We welcome all previous contestants to join the pageant again as long as they do not hold a previous or current Miss VietFest title where a cash prize was given out. Therefore, if you won Miss Photogenic or Miss Congeniality in the past, you may compete again. We are big supporters for those who do not give up on their dreams and goals.
The Miss VietFest Royal Court is the voice and image of NOVAL-DC and the bright Vietnamese community for a term of 1 year. Each titleholder is expected to act with the highest standards of professionalism. They will be responsible for participating in local Vietnamese community/charity events, do radio/television interviews, attend seminars, and inspire other young Vietnamese women to take initiatives in their goals. Each titleholder has a number of appearances to fulfill during their reign. The Pageant team understands school, work, and family is a first priority and will coordinate with your schedule when arranging all pageant appearances/events.
It is also encouraged that crowned Miss VietFest titleholders pursue further scholarship opportunities by competition in a state level competition like the Miss Earth Pageant.
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