At least four young women will compete tonight for a crown that has not been worn for two years.

If you go

The Miss Vicksburg pageant will begin at 7 tonight at Vicksburg Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door or in advance at the UPS store on Pemberton Square Boulevard. Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski will sign autographs at 6.

The Miss Vicksburg pageant will begin at 7 p.m. at Vicksburg Auditorium. The evening will also see three other crowns awarded — Miss Vicksburg Outstanding Teen, Miss River Bend and Miss River Bend Outstanding Teen.

“I hope we’ll have a full house,” said Amanda Monsour, director of the pageant. Tickets, at $10, are still available.

Tonight’s program will feature talent, swimsuit or active wear, evening gown and question and answer segments. Each contestant will also have a personal interview with judges this morning.

As added attractions, Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski will sign autographs at 6 tonight, and Ashley Buckman, first runner up to Kozlowski, will be master of ceremonies.

The Miss Vicksburg pageant was not held last year because there was no one to direct it. Monsour, in her first year in the role, has been involved in previous pageants as a judge and backstage coordinator.

“I’m very excited, not only that we’re bringing Miss Vicksburg back, but that we are also having the first annual Miss River Bend, which is a sweeps pageant,” Monsour said. A sweeps pageant is open statewide to girls who have competed in previous pageants during the current competition year and placed in the top five, but did not win.

At least six young women from around the state are expected to compete for Miss River Bend, and four for Miss Vicksburg Outstanding Teen. Contestant information for Miss River Bend Outstanding Teen was not available.

Miss Mississippi Corporation Executive Director David Blackledge has said Miss River Bend is the only sweeps pageant in the state. “It is a concept that we got from the Miss Georgia pageant that will give everybody who did not win a local or open pageant an opportunity to win a title.”

The deadline to enter all four competitions was extended last week after not enough contestants entered any of the four events. Initially, Monsour set the new deadline for 7 p.m. Friday, but Miss Mississippi officials decided during the week that girls applying by 9 a.m. today could compete, she said. Pageant rosters were therefore not finalized as rehearsals got under way Friday evening.

Miss Vicksburg is usually open only to young women ages 17 to 24 who live in Warren, Claiborne, Issaquena or Sharkey Counties. This year one of the contestants is from Flowood, and is allowed to compete because her local pageant did not have enough entrants to hold the contest.

Monsour was pleased with the interest in the Miss River Bend contest, which has drawn women from as far away as Woodville and Pontotoc vying for another shot at a crown which gives the chance to compete in the 52nd Miss Mississippi pageant, to be held July 15-18 at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

Miss Mississippi officials got a financial shot in the arm Thursday when the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau purchased a $15,000 sponsorship package that will entitle them to four 30-second ads on the closing night of the pageant, a mention during opening and closing credits and other publicity that is hoped to attract tourists and business.

The sponsorship ensures that the statewide pageant will remain televised.

Winners of Miss Teen Vicksburg Outstanding Teen and Miss River Bend Outstanding Teen will advance to the Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen pageant, a scholarship competition open to young girls ages 13 to 17 who meet character requirements.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com.