Yellowknife (Mar 11/05) - She who wears the shining crown will bask in glory during the Caribou Carnival's 50th anniversary.

"They are in the public eye and they stand for Caribou Carnival," said Carol Van Tighem, carnival co-ordinator.

Elsbeth Fossum is crowned 2004 Caribou Carnival Queen. This year, there are six contestants vying for queen and three for princess. - NNSL file photo

"Whoever wins this will have their name in the history books," Van Tighem said of the 50th anniversary queen and princess.

"I think it will be talked about for years to come."

Six contestants are vying for the queen's crown and three for princess, but no one has entered the contest for prince of the carnival.

Van Tighem said it does happen occasionally that no gentlemen step up to enter the contest.

"It's just one of those years."

Vying for queen are: Lila (Fraser) Erasmus, Mildred Wilke, Twyla Brule-Vachon, Mary Ellen McGonigle-Roberts, Katie Bourgeois and Kelly Merilees-Keppel.

The three would-be princesses are Stacey Grandjambe, Jesslyn Strand and Itoah Lydia Scott.

About $10,000 in prizes will be awarded during the contest.

The queen and princess will receive gifts, including a trip for two to Edmonton with accommodations. Winners of the contest are based upon the number of raffle tickets they sell. Fifty thousand $1 tickets have been printed.

"We're asking them to sell about $5,000 worth of tickets each to make the load lighter for everyone," she said.

One former Caribou Carnival Prince feels the winner should not be based upon the number of tickets sold.

Bob Ross of Yellowknife was crowned in 2002 during the carnival.

"It's like any other contest. You've got to have some talent behind you. Especially when there was that tiff between the two ladies," Ross said.

He was referring to the widely publicized disagreement between the 2001 contestants Gisele Forget and Christiane Boyd. Both were crowned queen because of the close sales, but Boyd felt she deserved to be sole queen.

Last year questions arose as to how many tickets two contestants sold.

But Van Tighem said fundraising is a very important part of whether or not each carnival is a success.

"We like to stand on our own two feet. We'd like to go into next year's carnival with a nice financial cushion and our aim is to keep Caribou Carnival in the public eye throughout the whole year," Van Tighem said.

Contestants will attend a Shakespearean interactive theatre performance as well as a Shrine clown show.

The crowning ceremony will take place during the Caribou Capers variety show March 23 at NACC.