The Miss Pacific Islands Pageant 2024 crowning over the weekend saw Miss Papua New Guinea (PNG) came up as First Runner Up to Miss Samoa, who was crowned Miss Pacific Islands 2024 at the Civic Centre in the Republic of Nauru. The Miss Pacific Islands Pageant 2024 started on January 28th through to February 4rd in the beautiful islands of the Republic of Nauru that hosted the event this year with the Government of Nauru and Digicel as major sponsors. The Pageant started on February 2nd with the Pre-pageant Interview for the contestants on the topic: ‘Sustainable Beauty Beyond the Reef’, followed by the Best Talent category and then with the Crowning night which consisted of the Best Sarong, Best Traditional Wear and Interview at the Civic Centre, Aiwo, Nauru. Miss Samoa, Moemoana Schwenke won the Best Interview, Best Talent and the Best Traditional Wear Categories and was the newly crowned Miss Pacific Islands 2024 taking the crown from Former Miss PNG, Josie Nicholas. Miss Bird Of Paradise Papua New Guinea, Tyla Singirok received an award in the Best Sarong Category as well as the 1st Runner up for the Miss Pacific Islands crown. She stated that she was humbled by this achievement that has made the people of PNG proud of the Bird of Paradise, which was her elegant and humble representation of the country in the pageant. “There are a lot of things and people to be grateful for in this journey. People that put a lot of thought and effort behind the scenes into producing what I am seen in or stage presentations.” “The experiences of the past two months have been a blessing as I have come into contact with and learned from many people who have so much passion in the work they do.” “From the Miss Bird of Paradise PNG Pageant to the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant, a lot of work was put into making sure I was pageant-ready.” She also thanked her dress designers and made an appreciation post for her sarong wear and traditional wear dress designers. “Ms. Nadya Parascos of Dare2Create who is the brains behind my Sarong wear, which won the best “sarong” category. Not only was she my Sarong Designer but also my Choreographer.” “I would like to sincerely thank Mr. William Maba Bray of MABS Collection for some of the beautiful dresses I wore during the Pageant Week in Nauru, and especially for his amazing Traditionally Inspired Design. She said William is a talented local Designer who has stepped up to produce the spectacular Bird of Paradise inspired dress that she proudly wore for the TID category as Miss Papua New Guinea in the regional MPIP pageant. The following awardees of the different categories in the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant 2024 are as follows: · 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑: Miss Samoa · 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩: Miss Papua New Guinea · 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩: Miss Nauru · 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩: Miss Marshall Islands · 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩: Miss American Samoa 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 · Miss Samoa, Moemoana Schwenke 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 · Miss Samoa, Moemoana Schwenke 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 · Miss Papua New Guinea, Tayla Singirok 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐫 · Miss Samoa, Moemoana Schwenke 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒄 · Miss Nauru, Rosita Rokobuli 𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆’𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 · Miss Samoa, Moemoana Schwenke 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐n𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒎 · Miss American Samoa, Judy Taunu’u 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 · Miss Tonga, Sitita Va’enuku