While the contestants sparkle, with their styled curls, they are also tough competitors.

The junior princess this year, Natalie Larabee, an 11-year-old from Aztec, competes in pole bending, barrel racing and goat tying. She kept competing even after a rodeo accident two years ago left her with three cracked ribs.

Even now, it’s goat tying that sometimes leaves her in the dust.

“You fall a lot; well, I fall sometimes,” she said.

For Fiesta Days Queen Taylor Edwards, 16, a seasoned competitor, it wasn’t the horsemanship contest that made her nervous.

“I’m not going to lie, I was nervous for the speech,” she said.

The royalty has been a Fiesta Days tradition since the 1930s, and for Lexie Crawford, Fiesta Days princess, the competition was about carrying on a legacy.

“My family has been here for 120 years, so it’s part of my heritage,” she said.

Herald Staff