by Patricia Leslie

Hundreds turned out Saturday for the free Tet Trung Thu Mid-Autumn Festival at Eden Center in Falls Church to celebrate the advent of fall and the crowning of the new Miss Vietnam DC.

It was a beautiful day at the Vietnamese shopping center filled with happy families, excited beauty contestants, games, entertainment, and local artists and craftspeople exhibiting their work. John Foust and Barbara Comstock, who are running for Virginia’s 10th district’s seat in the U.S. Congress, had their campaigns present to pass out literature to voters. Foust’s campaign gave free balloons to children.

After a few hours of the afternoon festivities, it was time for the Miss Vietnam DC competition. According to its website, the mission of Miss Vietnam DC aims to empower “women through education, collaboration, leadership and community service,” and inspire and guide them to become role models.

There was a standing-room-only crowd surrounding the stage at the Miss Vietnam DC competition. Some attendees arrived an hour or more before the pageant started at 6 p.m. to save seats. The show began with a parade of the 15 contestants who came out on stage individually in identical outfits – short black skirts and pink leotard tops – to introduce themselves visually to the audience and later, to dance a group number.

Then, the “serious” competition began.

For the evening gown portion of the competition, each contestant strode on stage smiling. They wore resplendent long dresses, all in different colors and styles, beautiful designs which matched the poise and dazzling appearance of each woman.

Afterwards, the candidates modeled ao dai, a traditional Vietnamese costume which usually includes a silk tunic over pants.

Shouts and yells for favorite contestants frequently sounded from members of the audience throughout the evening.

Later, in the question and answer session, sample questions were posed to each candidate like “What is the biggest challenge facing Vietnamese youth?” and “What do you hope to accomplish with your skills and learning?”

Each contestant began with a greeting in Vietnamese and supplied a quick response while smiling non-stop.

They were also rated on prior personal interviews with the judges, which accounted for 25 percent of their scores. The judges were Rosemary Tran Lauer, author of Beggars and Angels, Dr. Kim Oanh Lam Nguyen, a White House policy advisor, Tu Anh, a local fashion designer and owner of Polished, and Eugene Smith, editor-in-chief for DC Life Magazine.

Hours spent in training and rehearsal paid off – the show went off without a hitch, at least to the eyes and ears of those in the audience, which included Falls Church Mayor David Tarter.

At the end, five winners were crowned: Miss Vietnam DC 2014, Loney Nguyen; the first and second runners-up were Thanh Luu and Vi Nguyen, respectively. Vivi Tran was chosen by the entrants as Miss Congeniality. Anh Thu Pham won the People’s Choice Award, which was decided by online voters.

The pageant’s creative director, David Dang, called the Eden Center the region’s center of Vietnamese culture. During a break in the pageant he reminded the audience of a Vietnamese proverb.

“When you enter another family’s home, you should adopt their way of culture,” Dang said, and went on to describe the importance of adopting American ways without giving up Vietnamese practices. “We are here,” in America, which “doesn’t necessarily mean you have to lose [your] Vietnamese heritage.”

A 2015 calendar of the beauty contestants is available for $20 with $5 of the fee going to a child abuse charity. The calendar will be available beginning Oct. 1 on the Miss Vietnam DC website, missvietnamdc.org.