Regretfully informing no Miss Tibet Pageant 2019: Lobsang Wangyal

Lobsang Wangyal, the founder, producer and director of Miss Tibet at the press conference.

DHARAMSALA, 20 May: For the first time in the 16-year run of the Miss Tibet Pageant, there were no applicants at all for this year’s Miss Tibet competition.

Miss Tibet Pageant 2019 has been cancelled because it received not a single applicant.

“With much regret, we are announcing that there will be no Miss Tibet Pageant 2019 due to no applicants,” the director of the event Lobsang Wangyal said at a press conference held earlier today.

Since its inception in 2002, the crown was won uncontested by a lone participant on five instances. In 2003, 2005, 2013, 2014 and 2018 editions of Miss Tibet had only one contestant while in 2017, it had a record nine contestants.

“We opened the online application in February for aspiring young Tibetan Women to apply to participate and win the crown as in the past. But there were no applications,” the pageant director added.

“We feel that it is a missed chance for Tibet and Tibetan society this year. But keeping the maxim “Never give up’ at heart, we hope to have applicants in the next year’s Pageant in June 2020, for young Tibetan women to take the opportunity to learn, experience, and contribute to society,” Lobsang Wangyal added.

The event organiser further said that over the years, 16 women who have crowned Miss Tibet went on to do their best to excel in their own lives and contribute to society.

Lobsang Wangyal, the founder, producer and director of Miss Tibet announced that the 15th edition of the pageant will be the last to be held under Lobsang Wangyal Production as he announced to sell his production at the coronation ceremony of the pageant in 2017. But last year, he partnered with an entertainment company, Engage Entertainment, to host the 16th edition of the pageant in the US as he has reportedly failed to find a suitable buyer.

Exiled Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer, the winner of 2018 Free Spirit Award.

Meanwhile, he announced exiled Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer as the recipient of this year’s Free Spirit Award, an annual award that was created in 2003 to show appreciation for people working for peace and justice, social and environmental issues from around the world.

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