On January 19th, 2013 sixteen stunning young women from around Bay Area competed in the 26th Annual Hoa-Hau Ao Dai Bac Cali (Miss Vietnam of Northern California) pageant. Seven of those lovely contestants won titles and are now forever part of the growing and loving pageant family that they’ll soon get to know even better. Below is a list of their names and the titles they won.
- Hoa Hau Ao Dai 2013: Tran Le Nguyen Minh
- A Hau I: Truong Hoang Phung
- A Hau II: Vu thi Anh Thu
- A Hau III: Nguyen Pauline
- A Hau IV: Tran Vu Phuong Hoang
- A Hau Duyen Dang: Nguyen Diem Sandy
- A Hau Than Thien: Ly Hong Yen Yvonne
As with any pageant or royal association, it’s not really official until the mark of a Coronation ceremony, where the soon-to-be former Hoa-Hau formally passes on her crown and title to the new queen. On March 08, 2013 people who purchased tickets in advance put on their fancy dresses or ao-dai’s, shoes, suits and ties to attend one the most prestigious public community events in San Jose, California. Among the most well-recognized faces in the Vietnamese community were Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, Jet Martell (Spokesperson for the Martell Cognac brand of fine liqueur), Trung Lam (Realtor), Queenie Huyen Tran (Realtor and our Emcee) and of course our Executive Producer/Founder, An Vu, who were all present.
The party started at 6PM. Photographer Kevin Nguyen and many others were at the door not only to greet guests, but to offer the opportunity to take group pictures with our Hoa-Hau and A-Hau’s. After a couple of hours of leisure and mingling, around 7:30PM dinner was served. The dinner menu included the common, fancy wedding multi-course feast. Not to tease your stomach or make you hungry (maybe just a little), but here’s a list of all the delicious dishes served in the following mouth-watering order.
Dinner Menu:
- Appetizer: A cold plate of sliced beef, pork, jelly fish, and marinated seaweed
- Real crab meat and fish maw soup
- Shrimp and American broccoli flowerets stir fried in a white wine sauce
- Roasted chicken
- Bok Choy and mushroom in reduced brown sauce
- Pan sauteed lobster with green scallion
- Breaded and fried fish filets with fried fresh garlic bits
- Combination fried rice
- For dessert, sweet black bean soup
Amidst the entertainers and singers performing on stage, mid way through the event, Miss Nguyen Quynh Phuong (Hoa-Hau Ao Dai Bac Cali 2012) delivered her final and farewell speech. She thanked her family, friends, and the pageant organizers for a memorable and eventful year. At which time, her reign as Hoa-Hau Ao Dai Bac Cali officially ended on a sweet note. The new roles and responsibilities were then handed over to the new Hoa-Hau Ao Dai, Tran Le Nguyen Minh. She and all the A-Hau’s accepted their flowers, gifts and trophies.
As with any public community event, The Hoa-Hau Ao Dai Coronation can be attended by anyone. If you missed this year’s event, there is always next year. Just make sure to reserve and purchase your tickets early in advance. One thing never changes, every year tickets were all sold out within a week. The Hoa-Hau Ao Dai Bac Cali organization is a non-profit organization, so the funds that are received through ticket sales, donations, and sponsorships are all 100% tax deductible.
Below are the photo galleries of different photographers, who attended the event. From their kind hearts, they all have so graciously contributed their talent to our website. Through their lens we are able savor the sweet memories and relive the joyous past just once again. There is no doubt that they have worked hard to capture all the moments in life that we find so precious, so please check out their great work. If you have enjoyed their photography, leave a comment or let them know in person the next time you see them around. Enjoy!
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The Hoa-Hau and A-Hau of 2013 performed a traditional Vietnamese dance as a part of the evening’s entertainment. These ladies were very impressive! Despite having different and busy schedules, they’ve managed to spare a few practice weekends to choreograph and learn their moves. As you’ll see, they were very cute and talented.
Video by Thai Pham
Video by Thai Ha Talk Show
Video by Que Huong Media