The pageant, which begins at 5 p.m. in the Coastal Bend College auditorium, is a celebration of Mexican heritage, dress and culture.
Each contestant must not only learn a dance from their region but must also learn the history of the area.
Jennifer Bowen, 16, crowned Miss Diez y Seis queen last year, first entered the pageant at 9 years old.
“My mom likes to get me into a lot of new things,” Jennifer said. Jennifer took to the dancing easily as she has been doing ballet folklorico since she was 3.
“I love to dance,” she said. “It is something that not a lot of people know how to do.”
While the dance came easily, a solo performance was something different.
“I had never danced alone before,” Jennifer said. “I was really scared of it.”
Once she overcame that fear, it was easy.
“I guess it is second nature now,” she said.
As part of the pageant, each contestant must learn about the Mexican state they are representing.
For Jennifer, this meant learning everything she could about Veracruz Huasteca.
“I learned the capital and where it is at and stuff that they produce,” she said. “I can’t say I remember all of it now.”
Katie Ramos, 13, admits that when she first started the pageant three years ago, it wasn’t her choice.
“My grandmother made me but I am glad I did it,” said the reigning Junior Miss Diez y Seis queen. “She is really into Mexico because her family is from Mexico and I guess she wanted me to learn more about it.”
The hardest part of the pageant wasn’t memorizing the details of her state, Tabasco, but learning its native dance.
“It was difficult at first because my instructor showed me the dance and I thought ‘I am never going to get that down,’” she said.
But she kept at it and eventually learned the steps and twirls.
The youngest of the queens, Kayla Johns, 9, is by no means the shyest.
With a smile she flashes nearly every time she speaks, the Little Miss queen said that while she knows there are other pageants out there, she wants to stick with this one.
“I like the dresses because they are so pretty and because you get to go on stage by yourself,” said Kayla, who represented the state of Zacatecas.
She admits that while she was timid about performing the solo when she started three years ago, that feeling is long gone.
“The first year I was nervous but now, after I have been in it several years, I am kind of used to it.”
While both Katie and Kayla will be able to enter the pageant again, this is the end of competition for Jennifer.
As queen, she will pass her crown to the winner Saturday night but that doesn’t mean she will completely leave the pageant behind. “I am going to try and volunteer and help out with whatever they need,” she said. “All the girls competing are my friends and I still want to be there for them.”
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