There’s a new Petite Miss Five County Fair. Or rather, now there are two. The fair staff announced on Friday, Nov. 10 they had made a mistake in how the original decision had been made. As a result, a second winner has been chosen. 

Fair officials put out a statement that on Oct. 5, the board was made aware of a tabulation issue in the results of the Petite Miss Five County Fair competition. That just means a mistake in how points were counted up. They took time to go through, recheck the numbers and their review confirmed the mistake. It turns out Miss Emma Irving, who was originally crowned, should have finished second. 

“As a result of the correction, Miss Bryleigh Elliott has been crowned Petite Miss Five County Fair,” the fair board said in their statement. “Miss Elliott and Miss Emma Irving will each hold the title. They each may enjoy any privileges or opportunities associated with the title.” 

Elliott has since received her own crown and award ceremony, while fair staff say they’re working to make sure a similar situation doesn’t happen in the future. 

“The board expresses its sincere apology to all contestants and families impacted by this error,” the statement says. “We are reviewing the pageant policies and procedures at this time. Any necessary changes will be implemented for future pageants to alleviate such issues moving forward.” 

There were no issues found with any of the other pageants held this year. Johnna Stevens won the 2023 Miss Five County Fair Pageant. She now goes on to compete in the Miss VA Association of Fairs Scholarship Pageant in January 2024. 

More about Five County Fair, winners

Also winning at this year’s show was Emma Grace Tucker, who took home the Teen Miss Five County Fair title. In the younger competition, we had Ava Adams winning as Little Miss Five County Fair and Savannah Redford as this year’s Junior Miss Five County Fair. 

This marked the 86th anniversary of the fair, which ran from Tuesday, Sept. 26 to Saturday, Sept. 30 at 209 Fairgrounds Road in Farmville. Each year, the five counties of Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland and Prince Edward come together to enjoy events, contests and rides.