Miss Mount Maunganui Beauty Contest 1963 finalists (1) Marlene Hosée (2) Lois Aitken and (3) Lynette Sanson. Photo / NZME
Miss Mount Maunganui Beauty Contest 1963 finalists (1) Marlene Hosée (2) Lois Aitken and (3) Lynette Sanson. Photo / NZME
Miss Mount Maunganui is coming back - with a difference.
The classic pageant is being resurrected by a fashion designer and recent TV documentary star Kharl WiRepa.
WiRepa, whose designs have featured in British Vogue, said the Miss Mount Maunganui pageant would be launched in July by the Miss Bayof Plenty Trust, which now also encompasses the Miss Rotorua Foundation he directs.
He said he wanted the pageant to be "more inclusive" and for women from different backgrounds to enter.
This included women who were plus-size, multicultural, had children or were disabled, he said.
"Our organisation has the power and the ability to deliver Miss Mount Maunganui unlike it's ever been done before, so we're really excited about this journey.
"It's just the time for it. After Covid and everything, people want to be creative, people want to enjoy life and do things they haven't done before."
WiRepa said the foundation was looking for someone who upheld the values and integrity of the city and who could "inspire" the community and "other women to be their best".
It was also looking for someone who was "elegant" and "graceful" who could represent the region at Miss New Zealand.
Expressions of interest are opening in about two months and the pageant will be held in the summer of 2023, WiRepa said.
Miss Mount Maunganui Beauty Contest 1963 finalists (1) Marlene Hosée (2) Lois Aitken and (3) Lynette Sanson. Photo / NZME
WiRepa understood Miss Mount Maunganui started in the 1950s as a regional pageant held on New Year's Eve.
He said radio stations and festival hosts started running it as a one-day competition.
The pageant was run by a radio station in the 2000s.
The competition was also about showing a "unique talent" such as singing or dancing. Entrants performed in front of a large group of spectators and judges who interviewed them.
Lorraine Downes, 18, after being named Miss Mount Maunganui in 1983. Photo / NZME
In 2015, the pageant became an online competition with entrants' photos posted online for voting.
Now that Miss Rotorua Foundation has the pageant, Miss Mount Maunganui in 2023 will be a 12-week festival.
"We encourage every lady who is eligible in the Tauranga area to enter the Miss Mount Maunganui pageant to make her dreams come true and to inspire other women."
Miss Rotorua 2021 was filmed by Te Noni Productions and turned into an eight-part series called Gowns and Geysers, available on TVNZ On Demand and Māori Television.
When asked if Miss Mount Maunganui would become a series, WiRepa said "I wouldn't rule it out" but could not confirm it.
"I would support it being its own series and I think Miss Mount Maunganui could hold its own."
Miss Rotorua 2021 Kogi So and Miss Rotorua Foundation director Kharl WiRepa. Photo / Bipin Photography
Kogi So won the title of Miss Rotorua 2021 and encouraged women in the Tauranga area to "give it a go".
The 38-year-old real estate agent said she never thought about joining a pageant because she thought it was just about being a "beauty queen".
But throughout the pageant, So said the contestants saw each other's "inner beauty", which she enjoyed.
She joined the pageant to be a "role model" for her two daughters aged four and eight and said the most important thing she learned was "self-confidence".
Kharl WiRepa is revitalising the Miss Mount Maunganui pageant. Photo / Andrew Warner
"If you believe in yourself, everything can be possible."
So was the first Chinese woman to win the Miss Rotorua pageant in its history. She was born and raised in Hong Kong and moved to New Zealand in 2015 with her husband and first daughter.
"It will be a really awesome journey, so join in and don't hesitate."
