Month 96 - January 2012 - Reina, Colombia

Beauty contests are sort of a national obsession in Colombia. Every town, city, region and province has a 'reinado' at least once a year. You can be the Sugar Queen, Cattle Queen, Tanga Queen, Queen of the Sea or the Queen of the Donkeys just to name a few. Of the 3,794 official yearly fiestas (Colombia has 20 public holidays a year), half have a beauty contest. On many occasions the Queen herself has to help block the road that enters the village to collect fees from the visitors to help pay for the party.