Next Shrimp & Petroleum Festival queen sought

It is once again time for area young women to vie for the title of Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival queen.
COVID-19 restrictions resulted in the 2020 Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival being canceled, but the festival is on for Labor Day weekend this year, said the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival and Fair Association.
The association, along with the Past Queen’s Club, announced Monday that the search for a special young woman to carry on the tradition of representing the oldest, state-chartered harvest festival is under way. The young woman chosen will be the goodwill ambassador for the Tri-City area and will represent the 86th Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, according to the festival’s news release.
Some of the requirements are:
—All candidates must be at least 18 years old and not more than 23 by Jan. 1, 2022.
—Candidates and their parents shall be residents of east St. Mary Parish or lower St. Martin and Assumption parishes.
—Each candidate should have attended at least their junior and senior year in an east St. Mary Parish high school.
—Candidates shall be high school graduates by not less than one year, shall never have been married, pregnant or given birth to a child. The queen must remain single during her reign. In the event the queen should marry or something may cause her not to be able to represent the festival, the festival shall consider the crown vacated and all privileges and duties of the queen shall revert to one of the crown princesses, at the festival’s choice.
—The queen will travel the state as a goodwill ambassador and will be required to attend 11 festivals selected by the association board, and the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals convention. The new queen is encouraged to attend, when possible, all other festivals and any city functions to which she is invited. Required travel expenses are paid by the festival.
The queen must abide by all rules and regulations of her host festival while attending as a representative of the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.
—The queen is also required to attend the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians’ Mardi Gras Ball in Washington, D.C. Before embarking on the trip she will be honored at a luncheon hosted by the Gov. John Bel Edwards and first lady Donna Edwards. She will be joined by other queens, and many Louisiana representatives and dignitaries, at the event in Baton Rouge.
—If the parents of the queen should move from the area, the queen must maintain an area residence during the term of her reign.
—The young woman chosen as queen must relinquish all other beauty titles, other than high school or college. She may not enter any beauty contest her year as queen.
—She must conform to all festival regulations as queen and must not conduct herself in any manner other than that befitting of a queen.
Information and applications may be obtained by emailing info@shrimpandpetroleum.org or online at www.shrimpandpetroleum.org/maids. The deadline for submitting applications to the festival office is 2:30 p.m. Friday, June 4.
For more information contact Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival Executive Director Hailee Thomas at 985-385-0703.