Miss Pacific Islands is a national beauty pageant held in the Pacific Islands region. The pageant was formerly known as the Miss South Pacific Pageant.
History
The Miss South Pacific Pageant was established in 1987 by the Government of Samoa as a regional event to recognize and promote the attributes, intelligence, and talents of Pacific Island women. The pageant recognizes Pacific Island women, their contributions to regional affairs, and their ability to advance in diverse fields.
The first Miss South Pacific Pageant, hosted by the Government of Western Samoa, was held in 1987. Miss American Samoa, Juliet Spencer, was crowned the Miss South Pacific. Until 2000, the Miss South Pacific Pageant allowed South Pacific Islanders to represent their homeland communities even though they lived abroad. For example, Miss Samoa New Zealand represented the Samoan Community in New Zealand, and Miss Papua New Guinea Australia represented the PNG community in Australia. In 2001, contestants wishing to represent their homeland communities abroad had to compete in their homeland pageants first in order to participate in the Miss South Pacific Pageant. In 2014, the pageant was renamed Miss Pacific Islands in order to represent the whole Pacific Region instead of just the South Pacific.[1][2]
The pageant for 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was postponed until 2023.