Festival pageants

Hometown queens crowned for a town festival, like the Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill or the Azalea Festival in Wilmington. Some are scholarship pageants. 2 of the 27 upcoming pageants on our calendar (as of October 24, 2026) are Festival events: 1 list South Carolina and 1 list North Carolina. The next is North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant on January 9, 2027, Wilmington, NC.

Festival on this calendar, by the numbers

Upcoming events
2 of 27 on the calendar
Date range
January 9, 2027
Date TBA
1 of 2
Venue named
0 of 2
Entry fee published
0 of 2
Official registration link
1 of 2

Counted from the listings in this build. Data as of October 24, 2026.

What they are

Many Carolina festivals crown a queen or princess before the festival, and the winner rides in the parade and represents the town for the year. Rules, ages and fees are set by each festival, so every one is different.

Festival pageants tend to post dates late, often a few months before the festival. If you see a festival you like listed as date TBA, check back or follow its page.

How they connect to bigger systems

Some festival titles can open a door to a state stage. Miss South Carolina, for example, says a local festival title can qualify a candidate through a separate application. Ask the festival director whether their title connects to anything beyond the festival year.

Two examples on the calendar

The North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant is for high school juniors and crowns the Festival Princess. The SC Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill has run Little Miss, Teen, Miss and Ms. Strawberry pageants and says its 2027 dates are coming soon.

Where this comes from. Everything on this page is taken from the system's own published pages, checked October 24, 2026. Rules change by season, so read the current handbook before entering. How we verify.

New to pageants? Read how pageant systems work in the Carolinas or the first pageant guide for parents.

Compare 2 upcoming Festival events

Same fields for each. "Not published" means the source page we checked did not state it.

Upcoming Festival events compared
Pageant Date Where Age divisions Entry fee Entry deadline Register
North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant January 9, 2027 Wilmington, NC High school juniors Not published Not published Official form for North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant
SC Strawberry Festival Pageants Date TBA Fort Mill, SC Little Miss, Teenand 2 more Not published Not published Not published