Queen Azalea and celebrity guests announced for Azalea Festival

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Miss American 2019 Nia Imani Franklin has been announced as this year’s Queen Azalea.

The East Carolina University grad is a composer, actress, and singer who has had her music performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Friction Quartet, according to a news release from the NC Azalea Festival.

After concluding her Lincoln Center fellowship in New York City, she earned the jobs of Miss New York 2018 and Miss America 2019. She recently released her EP, “Extended,” which featured her RnB songs, and her viral orchestra piece, “Chrysalis Extended.”

Nia holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Composition and Theory from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, as well as a master’s degree in Music Composition from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.

The queen’s coronation will be aired live on WWAY CBS at 7 p.m. on April 6. Following the coronation, the band Girl Named Tom will headline the coronation celebration concert. Opening acts include Bigg B from Coast 97.3 and Wilmington’s East Coast Community Choir.

Tickets are $5 for lawns seats and $10 for reserved seating. They go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.

Celebrity guests include Wilmington native Alex Highsmith with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Olympic Silver Medalist Claire Curzan, Miss NC Carli Batson, National Cherry Festival Queen Allie Graziano, as well as Azalea Festival Artist Brooke Eagle, Queen Azalea 2020 Anne Hawthorne, and Master Sergeant, US Army Ret. William Borer.