Xmatkuil Fair chooses new queen after backlash at foreign appointee
Merida, Yucatan — After a public backlash for not choosing a native Yucateca as queen of the Xmatkuil Fair, organizers have reversed course.
TV personality Vanessa Claudio, who is a native Puerto Rican, will not be the face of the “fair of fairs” after all. Yucatecan beauty queen María Eugenia Nava del Río will preside in her place.
Claudio would have been the first foreigner to be given the honor since the tradition began 44 years ago. Nava del Río was a runner up, representing Yucatan, in the 2019 Mexicana Universal pageant.
The director general of the IPF, April Ferreyro Rosado, had justified her original decision by saying that the choice would broaden the fair’s appeal.
The official was accompanied by two pillars of the Yucatecan theater to give the news: Dzereco and Nohoch, Daniel and Mario Herrera, who pointed out that in this edition of the Yucatan fair there will be a lot of regional theater.
The statew fair, which runs Nov. 8-Dec. 1, will focus on regional theater but also continue its typical offerings of live music, rides and games.
With information from Desde el Balcón
