70th Azalea Queen Coronation kicks off Azalea Festival

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Azalea Festival is officially underway.

Today Kira Kazantsev was crowned and became the 2017 North Carolina Azalea Festival Queen. The Azalea Queen’s coronation is a chance to recognize the queen’s court and for some, see Queen Azalea for the first time.

“I really enjoyed it a lot,” Kelly Mayo, 2016 Teen Miss Carolina Christmas, said. “I thought that everyone looked really pretty. It was really well-rounded and put together. It was a lot of fun.”

Hundreds filled the room to hear Kira Kazantsev speak and of course get her crown. Kazantsev isn’t new to crowns. In 2015, she was recognized as Miss America. But she says this one is extra special.

“As Miss America I had all these wonderful experiences, serving with children’s miracle hospitals and all the TV shows and the domestic violence platforms,” Kazantsev said. “Getting to bring those messages to Wilmington is really special to me. It was all part of the job of being Miss America and now I get to do it as just Kira.”

Those messages are already being received by some Queen Azalea hopefuls after they got the chance to meet the queen after the coronation. These future queens approve of our current one. The event also brought some along some celebrities.

Olympic gymnast Jordyn Wieber was invited to come and is excited the 2017 Azalea Festival is officially underway.

“I’ve never been here before and I’ve never been to a festival in the south before and I can tell it’s a really big tradition and I’m excited to be a part of it.” Wieber said.