Say Hello to your 76th Azalea Festival Princess, Minh Vu!
Earlier this month, on a rainy evening in April, I had the opportunity to sit down with Minh Vu, a junior in the Lyceum Academy at New Hanover High School, and this year’s North Carolina Azalea Festival Princess. Just a week prior, Minh was booked and busy during the Azalea Festival but now, sitting in front of me, she’s able to look back on her time as Azalea Princess with new clarity and look ahead with optimism towards all that the rest of the year has to offer.
In our time, Minh and I covered a great variety of topics including her childhood in Vietnam, her experiences during Festival Week, and even her plans for the future. At the Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant in March, Minh was awarded the Beverly Anne Jurgensen Scholarship and has since assumed the role of Azalea Princess with enthusiasm. Throughout our entire interview, what I’m struck by most is Minh’s compassion for others and her desire to connect with people. At first glance, Minh is friendly but reserved, and yet when the conversation leads to topics like her meaningful interactions with the Queen’s court or even her passion for public speaking, sparks of excitement take over her entire visage, and before me is a young woman who speaks with intelligence and passion about the topics that matter to her. I am certain that this quality is what won her the crown in the first place and will continue to make her shine as our 76th Princess. When asked about her interests and her goal to pursue a Global Studies degree, Minh says “A lot of human rights work, advocacy, social justice… that's a big part of who I am and I also like to think that since I am part of a couple of minority groups, as someone who is Asian and a woman, I think it’s really helpful to talk more about problems, especially environmental problems too. That’s what I’m very passionate about, so I want to raise awareness and do that by learning more about what’s going on in the world and then hopefully making an impact.”
Before Azalea Festival Week had even begun, Minh attended the Juried Art Show downtown at the Hannah Block Center. Historically, the Azalea Princess has chosen a piece of artwork, dubbed the Princess Pick to be honored. This year, Minh walked around and socialized, carefully considering each painting before deciding on a piece called Drowning in Azaleas, which Minh learned (after speaking to the artist Jeanne May) is a portrait designed to bring awareness to climate change, a concept that Minh instantly connected with.
With the arrival of festival week came a whirlwind of events and responsibilities. Through it all, she was supported by her court, composed of Callie Cromartie, Mary Katherine O’Malley, Kiley Canter, and Emmy Russ, the runners-up of the Princess Pageant. Together, they had a blast riding on a float in the Azalea Festival parade, attending the T-Pain Concert, and visiting the Street Fair.
Being Princess also means speaking in front of large crowds. While initially, Minh did experience some nerves, after a mic mishap at the Queen’s Coronation and well-placed encouragement from festival staff Minh’s love of public speaking won out over any anxious thoughts she had in the moment. As the week went on, Minh was able to form connections with the Queen’s court and observe Queen Azalea herself, Sharon Lawrence, whose mindfulness and caring nature were a big inspiration to her. “I know some people say ‘Don’t meet your heroes’, but I think that’s wrong. She spoke in a way that made people comfortable, she would always make sure everyone felt included and she talked to everyone–she would thank everyone individually,” says Minh about her experience with the Queen. It’s interesting that these are the traits she felt inspired by, considering how she embodies many of the same characteristics. Throughout the week Minh made countless appearances as Princess, encountering visitors and festival volunteers alike. She became more and more excited every time she got to speak and even emceed the Performance Stage of the Street Fair which she says involved a lot of improvisation. Regarding her approach to public speaking, she says humbly, “I feel like I was able to be encouraging and make people feel welcome and happy when I speak. That is my hope.”
Of course, Minh is also aware of her position as a role model to young girls and a representative of Wilmington’s Asian-American Community. “I’m hoping that other people, no matter who they are, can still look up to me and be like ‘Oh my gosh! That could be me because she made it up there,’ you know? And ‘She has a similar name to me!’ or ‘She has the same ethnicity as me.’” says Minh. She was especially touched to receive a DM on Instagram from a young girl who wanted to express her admiration for Minh and the grace and intelligence with which she represents the Asian community here in Wilmington.
All of this, everything that’s happened since she became Princess and all that lies ahead, couldn’t have been possible without the North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant (see A Royal Farewell for more details on the pageant process). Minh looks back on her time as a part of the Princess Pageant with great fondness and credits the experience with giving her a much stronger sense of direction, both personally and professionally. Most importantly, Minh seeks to express the fun, welcoming nature of the pageant and encourage rising juniors to participate in the competition next year. As someone who went from having few experiences with the Azalea festival, to becoming the Festival’s only year-long representative, Minh encourages young people to get involved in any way they can, sooner rather than later.
For the majority of this summer Minh will be in Vietnam visiting family, but before then she’ll be attending a handful of events as the Azalea Princess. Namely the Rhododendron Festival which celebrates the Azalea’s sister flower every year in Bakersville, and the Miss North Carolina Competition, during which several members of this year's Queen’s Court will be vying for the title of Miss North Carolina. But it doesn’t end there! Minh will continue to represent the Azalea Festival at a plethora of events across North Carolina for the remainder of the year until the next Azalea Princess is crowned in 2025. In the meantime, Minh hopes to enjoy her last years of High School, schedule a princess visit to Friends School (her alma mater), and remain present in the Wilmington community.
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