National Level Winter Carnival is all set to be held in Manali from today to boost winter tourism. Winter Queen competition will be cynosure of this carnival. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will flag off the carnival parade of Winter Carnival and will inaugurate cultural programmes at Manu Ranghshala. Carnival will bring double joy to the tourists as Manali has now enough snow at its tourist places which will last for weeks. Ahead of the winter carnival, beauty pageant organisers held a fashion show for auditions in Shimla. Models and participants gathered and participated in a fashion show and displayed their talents. Divyangna, fashion designer and organizer of the Manali Winter Carnival, 2023, said, “Every year in winter carnival, auditions take place for beauty pageants. This is the first audition that took place in Shimla and the second will be held in Kullu on Friday. The last audition will take place on 2 January in Manali itself.”She added, “Top 25 contestants will be selected for the final round. The winner will be given a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh while the first runner-up will get a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The second runner-up will get Rs 30,000.” The audition was held at the historic Getty Theatre in Shimla. While the primary goal of the models participating in the paegent is to win the winter queen title, they are also participating in it with the objective of getting an exposure and showcasing their modelling talents. Kritika Sharma, one of the participants said, “I participated in a pageant in 2018. I won the Miss Rohru 2018 title. However, after that, due to some reason, I could not continue because I had to focus on my studies.” She added, “That’s why after so many years, I thought about giving it a try once again. Beauty pageants can help lift your spirits when you are feeling down and things aren’t going your way. It gives you the courage and confidence to rise again. That’s the reason I participated. Even if I don’t win the title, the participation itself would boost my confidence.”