Previous Story
LibDay queen to represent Saipan in Japan
Liberation Day Queen Brinae Jessilyn Cruz, middle, is set to represent the CNMI in Nagoya this August at the 20th Annual Nippon Domanakka Festival. (Kimberly A. Bautista)
The 2018 Liberation Day queen is set to represent the Marianas in Nagoya, Japan this August.
According to Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, the Saipan Mayor’s Office will be sending Brinae Jessilyn Cruz to the 20th Annual Nippon Domannaka Festival along with the Liberation Day Royal Court chair Monique Boyer Sablan. The festival is believed to be the largest cultural festival in Nagoya.
“They will be going to the cultural festival in Japan…to participate in it with the MVA (Marianas Visitors Authority) and represent the CNMI,” he said.
Apatang said that he sends Liberation Day queens to the Domannaka Festival for the past few years because it allows them to get exposed to a different culture at a young age.
“We always send our queens to Japan to experience an international culture…that’s one way to get experience and they also get to promote the CNMI with MVA…that’s our main reason for sending them there,” he said.
According to Sablan, Cruz will serve as a youth ambassador of the CNMI during the Domannaka Festival that will last five days.
“They do this every year…it’s something that the mayor’s office gets invited to and it’s a good opportunity for him to showcase the new Liberation Day queen and give her the chance to travel off-island to represent the island as kind of like an ambassador,” she said.
Sablan believes that this is a great opportunity to have Cruz expose herself to greater opportunities.
It’s a great opportunity…and this gives candidates something to look forward to… and one thing about these girls is that they are very young so it’s a great opportunity for them to get out there,” she said.
Sablan and Cruz are scheduled to leave this Aug. 24 to attend the five-day festival.
