The Miss California pageant is returning to the City of Fresno for its 97th edition following a one-year reprieve due to the on-going coronavirus pandemic.
Contestants are set to meet Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Police Chief Paco Balderrama on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the first night of competition.
32 contestants from across the state will vie for more than $100,000 in scholarship prizes during the four-day competition at the DoubleTree Convention Center ballroom.
Another 22 teens are competing for Miss California Outstanding Teen.
Tuesday and Wednesday night, Miss California contenstants will undergo two rounds of preliminary competition.
Thursday, Outstanding Teen competitors will vie for the crown and scholarships.
Friday, a final competition for Miss California will be held before the awarding of the crown and scholarships.
The winner of the 2021 Miss California pageant will move on to compete for the Miss America crown in December.
The incumbent Miss California, Eileen Kim, is a Chapman University graduate who placed in the top 15 during the 2020 Miss America pageant in Connecticut.
