A teenage beauty queen has beaten off stiff competition to become the new Miss Manizales.
Although not one of the favorites, Manuela Arias Galvis is celebrating being crowned beauty queen of the city of Manizales, in the central Colombian department of Caldas. Galvis overcame competition in the form of favorites to win Laura Alvarado, who won the best body round, and Paola Carvajal, who was deemed to be the beauty with the best hair. Isabel Muñoz, meanwhile, was voted candidate with the prettiest face.
However Galvis persevered and her vital statistics — helpfully listed in local newspaper La Patria’s article on the event and its contestants– were enough to ensure her surprise success.
The result was announced at Saturday night’s coronation, which followed the event’s highlight earlier in the day — a swimwear parade held at a local ecopark. The evening celebrations included entertainment from “popular” music singer Rogelio Gonzales, while the five finalists were put to the test answering questions about the city and its qualities. Given her failure to succeed in the body, face or hair departments, Galvis is thought to have stolen the show with extensive knowledge of her home city.
Though only 17 years old, the new queen is already an old hand at the beauty game, having won the local children’s beauty pageant Caldas Girl four years ago. She also took home the regional title of Miss Junior Beauty two years ago.
Along with her crown, Galvis took home the promise of being the new “image of Manizales,” and the dubious honor of being hostess to tourists at next year’s 56th Manizales Fair, Colombia’s second biggest annual festival. The new queen risks being overshadowed at the festival, however, as it crowns its very own International Coffee Queen.