Washington Apple Blossom Festival Royalty Hopefuls Await Top 10 Announcement
The Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Royalty selection process reaches a key date on Jan 13th, when 25 high school senior girls from the Wenatchee and Eastmont school districts compete for a spot among the Top 10 candidates who will vie for the 2026 Apple Blossom Royal Court.
Festival coordinator Darci Christopherson says the preliminary (Top 25) candidates running for Royalty will introduce themselves and answer a series of questions from five out-of-town judges about their background and a few impromptu topics. This round of judging accounts for 50% of the Top 10 score. The session is not open to the public.
Family, friends, and the general public are invited to attend the following session where candidates deliver their Top 10 speeches.
The speeches are open to the public and begin at 1:00 pm for Wenatchee School District candidates and around 2:30 pm for the Eastmont candidates in the Numerica Performing Arts Center (PAC)
Each hopeful is expected to deliver their 2-3 minute speeches on the same topic. The speeches comprise the other 50% of a total Top 10 score used to name a slate of 10 finalists. The judges will select five candidates each from both school districts and announce the Top Ten Royalty Candidates to the public at 6:00pm Tuesday at the PAC
The finalists will compete for the 2026 Royal Court on Saturday, Feb. 14th, 7:00pm at the PAC.
Tickets for the Royalty Selection Pageant go on sale January 20th online at NumericaPAC.org. More festival information and a gallery of the Top 25 candidates can be found at the festival website AppleBlossom.org
Each of the Top 10 Royalty Selection candidates will appear on the KPQ Agenda program at 1pm during the week of Feb. 2nd-6th.
The Top 10 speeches, Top 10 announcements, and the Royalty Selection Pageant will be streamed live on the NCW Life facebook page and website
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