Miss Belize Rural Wins 2024 Queen of the Bay Crown

Miss Belize Rural, Deannie Laing, captured the crown and scepter in the 2024 Queen of the Bay pageant on Saturday night at the Belize Civic Center.  Laing who resides in Western Paradise Village was selected among eleven contestants.  She holds an Associate’s Degree from the University of Belize and is currently an entrepreneur and the President of the UNFPA’s Youth Advisory Group.  The 22-year-old will be officially crowned on September 10.  The Queen of the Bay pageant has been a staple on the national celebrations calendar since 1946.  It is Belize’s oldest pageant, initiated in 1946, with the first crowned queen being Rita Lewis. The contestants were on The Morning Show last week where they spoke on the traditions and history of the pageant.  

Doriany Ramirez, Miss Orange Walk: “Well from the history what I learned the most is that when you sign up for this role you have to take full responsibility which is something I already did know but it’s a very formal pageant. I didn’t know it was a lot of marching involved. So everything that has to do with our Belizean pride it is incorporated into the Queen of the Bay.”

Placing second in the pageant was Miss Caye Caulker, Lupita Aldana followed by Miss Belize District, Heavenly Bradley. Laing will take over from the current queen, Keely Faux.