Miss Earth 2023 finals moved to ‘new environmental place’ in Ho Chi Minh

Some of the Miss Earth candidates, including Yllana Marie Aduana from the Philippines (left)/MISS EARTH FACEBOOK PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The 2023 Miss Earth coronation show will be held in a different venue from what was announced during an earlier launching event, and will now be staged at Van Phuc City, a sprawling real estate development in Ho Chi Minh City.

Lorraine Schuck, Executive Vice President of Miss Earth organizer Carousel Productions, told INQUIRER.net in an online interview that the location is “a new environmental place” in the southern Vietnamese city. The international competition was founded on the platform of environmental awareness and protection, and the winners and delegates are expected to spearhead initiatives that help save the planet.

TNA Entertainment, the Vietnamese organizing team, initially scheduled the pageant’s coronation night on Dec. 16 at NovaWorld in Nha Trang, the southern Vietnamese city that hosted the 2010 Miss Earth competition.

In another, much flashier, launching event, TNA Entertainment announced that the coronation show will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center, the biggest indoor stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, and has been moved to Dec. 22.

Schuck said in an earlier interview that the Vietnamese team sought Carousel’s permission to move the competition date first, because they wanted to accommodate much more people to the coronation show, and the venue was not available on the original schedule.

In the most recent change in venue, Schuck said TNA Entertainment made the decision. “Although they told me, and showed me pictures of the place. And the staging and lighting is beautiful.” She also said that the final show’s stage will be “open-air.”

The new venue, Van Phuc City, was already indicated in the latest calendar of activities released to the public. Miss Earth pageant’s international affairs and franchises head Astrud Schuck told INQUIRER.net, “whatever is released in the official Miss Earth page is considered official details.”

The 2023 Miss Earth delegates will gather this afternoon, Dec. 3, at the iconic Saigon Opera House, also known as the Municipal Theater, in Ho Chi Minh City, for the “Xin Chao” welcome ceremony, and the preliminary evening gown competition.

This year’s competition attracted 88 aspirants, including national pageant veteran Yllana Marie Aduana from the Philippines. She will try to become the fifth Filipino woman to receive the Miss Earth crown, following Karla Henry (2008), Jamie Herrell (2014), Angelia Ong (2015), and Karen Ibasco (2017).