Dharamshala, October 3 – Two Tibetan girls will vie for this year’s Miss Tibet Pageant, announced Lobsang Wangyal, the founder and director of the pageant. However, the names of the girls will be announced on the day of the actual competition. There will be four rounds of contest.
The two contenders will be trained in yoga, dance and stagecraft, and will be given orientation on Tibetan culture for a week, says Lobsang, who also organized the first Tibetan music awards, and Tibetan Olympics.
Miss Tibet 2008 will win 100,000 rupees (2500 USD approx), and the runners up will receive 50,000.00 rupees (1250 USD approx).
The prize money is offered to help the winners further their education or vocational skills, Lobsang said.
Tibetan businessman Gyalnor Tsewang, a member of the Tibetan parliament sponsored 50,000 rupees for the pageant and Asia Health Resorts will be co-sponsoring the event.
Though the pageant has received substantial media attention in the past the Tibetan community itself is yet to fully accept it as a serious competition. The number of girls participating in the pageant has dwindled over the years making it hard for the organizers to continue the pageant.
The expenses of the event are mostly derived from advertisements of local businesses in the pageant brochure.
“We are still looking for funding assistance to cover the costs of the pageant and the prize money,” Lobsang said.
The pageant will take place in the evening of Sunday, 12 October at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts here.
This is the seventh Miss Tibet pageant since 2002 and for 2003 and 2005 there were only one contestant.
