By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]
Humboldt, IA – Crowning a new queen is a staple tradition to the early days of each Humboldt County Fair.
Every year a queen is crowned during the first day or two of the fair. Kayla Newton is in charge of coordinating this year’s fair queen proceedings and breaks down the process that each contestant will go through.
She says that they bring in three out of town judges who critique each of the entries. There are four criteria that the judges will base their ruling on when selecting the winner.
The first is that each contestant will have to provide general information about them self. The judges will interview each contestant on a one-on-one basis before moving to a group interview. The final piece is etiquette.
Newton says the fair queen is a working position that takes on a large role during the fair. “She’ll be involved in all of the activities.” The fair queen helps with animal shows as well as a majority of the grand stand activities.
The county fair queen also is given the opportunity to compete for the state title during the Iowa State Fair.
The fair queen is not the only county fair royalty that will be crowned. Newton confirms that there will be a fair princess in 2021. The princess goes through the same process as the queen as a bit of preparation for if they decide to run for queen when they are older.
There is also a junior miss and little miss and mister that will be named during the fair. The winners for the younger categories are chosen randomly.
The winners for the 2021 Humboldt County Fair Queen and other royalty will be announced on Tuesday, July 21. It will be a free grandstand event.