Costa Maya beauties in town for pageant shown Live on 5!
Music, Latin beauties and fashion will be everywhere inside the grounds that host the annual Costa Maya Festival.� So if you head out to La Isla Bonita on Thursday, the premiere night will showcase a beauty pageant among competing queens from the region.� The entire weekend� will be saturated with diverse cultural activities from all Central American countries. The ballet de Camara de Quintano Roo, Grupo Divash, Los Pasteles Verdes and Kevin Lyttle are flying in to entertain the revelers on San Pedro. Hotel rooms are becoming scarce and if you can't make it there, the beauty pageant will be aired live on Channel5. Freelance reporter Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Eight delegates from Central America and Mexico are in Belize to compete for the title of La Reina de La Costa Maya 2012. The pageant is indicator the Annual Costa Maya festival is about to get underway at La Isla Bonita. And while the pageant is this Thursday, the competition has already begun.
leilah pandy
Via Phone: Leilah Pandy, Delegate Coordinator, Costa Maya Festival
"This year the national costume competition is in two parts-the first part was a preliminary cultural competition which was held on Saturday night at the Ramon's village. The girls were on the runway in attire from moon dancers as well as they displayed their cultural costumes. The scores from that cultural costume competition will be added to tomorrow night's national costume competition scores and we will then determine a winner for the best costume award."
The beauty ambassadors will compete in four areas of competition; National costume, swimwear, evening wear and final answer. While here, the delegates have been getting a tour of the jewel.
Via Phone: Leilah Pandy
"They went over to San Ignacio where they had a photo shoot on the Cahal Pech Ruin. During the week they have been visiting various sites and restaurants here on Ambergris Caye like: Mambo, Matachicas; they've been to the Caprice Bar and Grill at the Holiday Hotel-they've just been having a really great time and of course the hospitality here in Belize and on San Pedro are always top notch."
Former winner of La Reina de La Costa Maya and Delegate Coordinator, Leilah Pandy, says taking the crown is all about preparation.
Via Phone: Leilah Pandy
"The preparation going into it is grueling, but in the end, it is worth it because you do make the friends. It is actually a network and friendship for life. So preparation, preparation preparation-practice makes perfect and at the end it is a true testament of your character. You can expect grandest; a lot of hype entertainers and artists."
Duane Moody for News Five.
The delegates are Miss Mexico, Natalia Villanueva; Miss Guatemala, Alessandra Manzur Franco; Miss Nicaragua, Ivey Jellisa Alvarez Hunter; Miss Costa Rica, Mariela Aparicio; Miss Honduras, Esthefany Perez; Miss El Salvador, Nathaly Arauz; Miss Panama, Karen Beitia and Miss Belize, Karen Middleton.
Channel 5