Backstage at the finals
The fans go wild for their favourite contestant.
Triumphant 18 year old Geraldine Alvarez returns to her home neighbourhood "Barrio" after winning the 2009 Miss Popular title.
Fiesta reveller with communal bottle of rum Cartagena, Colombia
Fiestas Novembrinas Parade in Cartagena, Colombia
Beauty Pageants are a way of life in Colombia, they are followed with great interest and fervour from young girls to old men.
Journalist Roberta Staley and I were able to experience the very exciting Miss Popular or "Reinado Popular de Cartagena beauty pageant.
This pageant has a representative from each of the barrios or districts of the Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena in Colombia. The winnner was Geraldine Alvarez Marin from the barrio of Chapacua.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/beauties+barrios/2973871/story.html
