Thirteen talented and beautiful young girls in the Sunshine City will shoot for the Burger King/It's OK Corporation Miss Portmore Festival Queen 2008 crown at Portmore HEART Academy tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m.
The winning girl will walk home with a cash prize and the Supreme Ventures trophy.
Octavia Waite, chairman of the Portmore Cultural Development Committee (PCDC) and one of organisers of the competition, said that the audience coming to witness the show is in for many surprises. "Come and expect Portmore talent at its best," she told THE PORTMORE STAR in an interview.
Last year, Terry-Ann Virtue walked away with the title and did well at the St Catherine Festival Queen Parish final where she placed third. "Last year's show was a good one. We had a full house. Basically, the shows are usually very good," Waite noted. "We want everybody to come out and enjoy the show. Portmore, Kingston and Spanish Town is where the show gets its biggest support from."
Loves culture
Waite has been involved in the Miss Portmore Festival Queen competition since the mid-1980s and said her love for culture has kept her going. "The driving force that keeps me going with this competition is because of my love for culture, and the fact that I have recognised that I have something to offer to these young girls and that I can assist ladies with their personal development, and I thought that will be a good route."
She emphasised that this competition is not about physical beauty but: "It's basically about unearthing talents and at the same time, you are improving the personal development of the young ladies. And you are also helping them to be aware of their culture so they can, in turn, become nation builders."
The last time a Portmore Festival Queen won the St Catherine Parish Queen was in 2004, when Alicia-Ann Carpio-Roxborough took the coveted crown. The winner of the Portmore leg has won the parish final six consecutive years from 1996-2001.
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