The Miss Pacific Islands Pageant (MPIP) 2020 has been canceled due to the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases and number of deaths recorded globally and in the pacific region.
The Government of Samoa which owns the MPIP franchise and was to be the host of this year’s pageant has made this difficult decision to cancel the event.
The current Miss Samoa and Miss Pacific Islands will extend her reign for another year.
The Chairman of the Secretariat of Miss Pacific Islands Pageant Mr. Faamatuainu Suifua says
“The current developments globally and especially in our region with the increasing numbers of total confirmed COVID-19 cases and deceased, uncertainty on international borders and continuing extended State of Emergencies for each island nation, have indeed placed major challenges in terms of required resources and logistics to host a successful and a high-quality event we are accustomed to,” says Mr. Faamatuainu Suifua
The Secretariat of MPIP has also informed various island Board members’ (including PNG) decisions to cancel this year’s Pageants.
“From the Secretariat’s standpoint and also as the next Miss Pacific host nation, we were praying and hoping that towards the second half of this year, the pandemic and its impacts would have reduced or better, to have nil cases. Not to mention an available vaccine be found. And we can all go back to our normal lives and plans. However, to date, this is far from what we had hoped for,” added Suifua.
The Government of Samoa also postponed the upcoming 30th Teuila Festival and the Miss Samoa pageant. This is the first cancellation in the Festival’s 30-year history.
