Azalea Festival announces Queen Azalea, invited guests

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington native returns home to reign over the 2020 Azalea Festival.

Anne Hawthorne has been named as the 2020 Queen Azalea.

After graduating from East Carolina University, she moved to New York City where she performed on Broadway in Fosse with Ben Vereen, Ann Reinking, and Bebe Neuwirth, The Merry Widow with Placido Domingo, A Christmas Carol with Tim Curry, and as a Radio City Rockette.

Before her success on Broadway, she spent time on the road performing in CATS National Touring Company.

Her film credits include Tribal TV series, Realization Inc., A Miracle on Christmas Lake , Dark Hearts, Flirting with Forty, Heart of the Country as actor/producer, Mutant World, Picking Up and Dropping Off, The Other Woman, Undercover Christmas, Hollywood Wives, and Simple Revenge.

She lives in Canada but spends the summer in Wrightsville Beach.

Azalea Festival invited guests include:

• 2019 Miss North Carolina Alexandra Badgett
• Reginal Clemmons
• Sheila Dail
• 2020 Festival Artist Todd Carignan
• Dr. Steven Errante