Xmatkuil Fair chooses new queen after backlash at foreign appointee

Our Best Stories — Straight to Your Inbox!

Sign up for the Yucatán Roundup and get our biggest headlines once a week in your inbox. It's free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

María Eugenia Nava del Río was selected queen of Yucatan’s state fair. Photo: Courtesy

Merida, Yucatan — After a public backlash for not choosing a native Yucateca as queen of the Xmatkuil Fair, organizers have reversed course.

TV personality Vanessa Claudio, who is a native Puerto Rican, will not be the face of the “fair of fairs” after all. Yucatecan beauty queen María Eugenia Nava del Río will preside in her place.

Claudio would have been the first foreigner to be given the honor since the tradition began 44 years ago. Nava del Río was a runner up, representing Yucatan, in the 2019 Mexicana Universal pageant.

The director general of the IPF, April Ferreyro Rosado, had justified her original decision by saying that the choice would broaden the fair’s appeal.

The official was accompanied by two pillars of the Yucatecan theater to give the news: Dzereco and Nohoch, Daniel and Mario Herrera, who pointed out that in this edition of the Yucatan fair there will be a lot of regional theater.

The statew fair, which runs Nov. 8-Dec. 1, will focus on regional theater but also continue its typical offerings of live music, rides and games.

With information from Desde el Balcón

Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine has the inside scoop on living here. Sign up to get our top headlines delivered to your inbox every week.
- Advertisement -spot_img
AVAILABLE NOWspot_img
ADVERTISEMENTspot_img
Verified by ExactMetrics