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Strawberry Festival Pageant Drops Swimsuit Competition

Tribune file photo by JASON BEHNKEN

2007 Strawberry Festival Queen Summer Pippin, left, presents the Megan Carpenter award to Jordan Alyssa Andreu during the 2008 Strawberry Festival Queen's Scholarship Pageant Feb. 2 at Tomlin Middle School Auditorium.

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By DAVE NICHOLSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 24, 2008

PLANT CITY - The Florida Strawberry Festival queen pageant is ditching its swimsuit competition.

Pageant officials had received complaints in recent years that some contestants were showing too much skin. But the complaints didn't factor into the decision to replace the swimsuits with a casual wear competition, a pageant official said today.

"Times change," said Charles Harris, chairman of the 2009 pageant for the sponsor, the Plant City Lions Club.

The changes, announced this morning by the festival, end a longtime part of the pageant, which is for Plant City area women ages 16 to 20.

Last year, the pageant limited contestants to certain styles and cuts of swimsuits. It's not clear when swimsuits became part of the pageant, but it goes back for decades.

The pageant has been held annually since 1930, except for during and after World War II.

The festival queens are treated like local celebrities and help introduce headline musical acts at the annual celebration of the area's famous crop.

Besides the switch from casual wear, the pageant is also raising academic standards for contestants, from a 2.75 grade-point average to a 3.0, Harris said.

The next pageant is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 17 at Tomlin Middle School.

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