Hattiesburg will host Mississippi Miss Hospitality for the 25th year on Friday, July 15th and Saturday, July 16th at the Historic Saenger Theater. The preliminary on-stage competition will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday. The contestants will compete in commercial and evening gown, and the Little Misses will be introduced. The Top 3 Mississippi Speech, Top Ad Sales, Social Media Challenge Winner, and Most Photogenic Awards will also be handed out during preliminaries.
The final night of competition will take place on Saturday night, beginning at 8 p.m. The Top 10 Contestants will compete in on-stage interview, community commercial, and evening gown. Sprit of Miss Hospitality, Top 10, Top 5, and the 2022 Mississippi Miss Hospitality winner will be announced during the final competition.
The contestants have a full week of events leading up to the final nights of competition. All 40 contestants arrived in Hattiesburg on Sunday, July 10 to prepare for a week of rehearsals, volunteering, and appearances. Mayor Toby Barker was one of many to welcome the girls to Hattiesburg at a press conference held Monday morning at the Saenger.
“I hope that the stories that you learn about your individual communities and our state will go forth long after this competition is over,” Barker told the contestants. “Mississippi needs positive ambassadors more than any other time right now. We see the stereotypes that we have in the news, and each of you through your own lives, and through the work that you put into this, and the stories that you tell about your individual cities, towns and counties can undo that and tell a brighter story.”
On Tuesday, the girls will get a tour of the city and spend most of the day volunteering- making stops at Extra Table, Hattiesburg Zoo, and Forrest General Hospital. Then on Friday, an autograph party will be held from 12:30 – 2 p.m. at Turtle Creek Mall, where the public is invited to meet the 2022 contestants, along with their Little Misses, and 2021 Mississippi Miss Hospitality.
When asked why she decided to compete, Covington County’s Makayla Luper said, “I’m a building construction science major at Mississippi State. So every day I get to study what draws people to a place, and that’s exactly what Miss Hospitality does. She draws people to the state of Mississippi, and so for me, I’ve been training for this job and it’s definitely an honor to be here competing this week.”
Limited tickets are available for Friday and Saturday night competitions. For more information and to livestream the event visit misshospitality.net or their FaceBook page.
