Contest Rules

ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

The 2025 North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant People’s Choice Contest (the Contest) is only open to official contestants of the 2025 North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant. All entrants must abide by the Scholarship Pageant Contestant Contract. The Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

The contest is sponsored by the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc.

Participation in the Contest constitutes entrants full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules and the decisions of the primary Sponsors, which are final and binding. Winning a prize is contingent upon being compliant with these Official Rules and fulfilling all other requirements set forth herein.

The Voting Period starts at 10:00:00 AM (Eastern Time) on Monday, February 3, 2025 and ends at 10:00:00 AM (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

The Voting Period constitutes the Contest Period. Submissions will be accepted for the duration of the Submission Period through online submissions only.

All 2025 North Carolina Azalea Festival 2025 Scholarship Pageant contestants will be automatically entered by Azalea Festival staff. No public entries are allowed.

Each $1 donation counts as 1 vote. We encourage you to e-mail and post on social media the contest link to family and friends and encourage them to vote for your favorite contestant. Votes may be cast during the Voting Period only.

All donations for votes are non-refundable and not tax-deductible (that's because you receive a vote in exchange for the donation). Entries and donations must be made via the online contest page. Donations that are submitted via other means (snail mail, in-person or main website donation page) will be accepted as donations but not applied toward the contest. Contest payments online are through a secure site.

The People’s Choice winner will be announced on the night of the Scholarship Pageant, on Saturday, March 8, 2025.

The winner will be notified on stage at the conclusion of the 2025 North Carolina Azalea Festival Scholarship Pageant. During Pageant night, there is an auditor that takes all the judges’ scores and tallies them for the Top 15; individual judges do not know the total points of each contestant. The auditor will be given the name of the People’s Choice winner and this will be the Pageant’s bonus “Top 15”. If the judges had chosen the People’s Choice winner as a Top 15 based on judges’ scores; that contestant is still People’s Choice and the auditor will take the 16th “top 15” contestant based on judges’ scores. The Pageant will continue as planned with no reference to the People’s Choice winner until the end of the Pageant, so judges’ opinions will not be skewed. The judges and audience will not know the People’s Choice winner until the scholarship is given out at the end of the night, so it will not affect the judges’ decisions.

The People’s Choice winner must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. If a potential winner is disqualified for any reason, the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. will award the applicable prize to an alternate winner among remaining eligible entries.

People’s Choice Winner
There will be one and only one winner, the entry with the most votes. The winning prize is a $250 scholarship given out via check to the winning contestant.

In the case of a tie, the winner will be chosen at random from amongst the tying entries by Festival staff in a blind drawing.

In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Contest is impaired in any way for any reason, including, but not limited to fraud, virus, bug, worm, unauthorized human intervention or other technical problem, or in the event the Contest is unable to run as planned for any other reason, as determined by the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. in its sole discretion, the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. may, in its sole discretion, either (a) suspend the Contest to address the impairment and then resume the contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules or (b) terminate the contest and, in the event of termination, award the prize at random from among the eligible, non-suspect entries received up to the time of the impairment. the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to damage the website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and should such an attempt be made, the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. reserves the right to seek damages (including attorney's fees) and any other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Failure by the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. to enforce any provision of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

By participating in the Contest, entrants hereby grant the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. permission to use submitted photographs, video, or other digital media ("photo") in any and all of its promotional materials, publications, including web-based publications, without payment or other consideration. Entrants understand that all photos become the property of the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. and will not be returned. Entrants irrevocably authorize the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. to edit, alter, copy, exhibit, publish, or distribute these photos for any lawful purpose. In addition, entrants waive any right to inspect or approve the finished product wherein the submitted photo appears. Additionally, entrant waives any right to royalties or other compensation arising or related to the use of the photos.

By participating in the Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sponsor, and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, other companies associated with the contest, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives, and agents (the Released Parties) from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use of the prize (including any travel or activity related thereto), including, but not limited to: (a) any technical errors associated with the Contest, including lost, interrupted or unavailable Internet Service Provider (ISP), network, server, wireless service provider, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone, cellular tower or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties; (b) unauthorized human intervention in the Contest; (c) mechanical, network, electronic, computer, human, printing or typographical errors; (d) application downloads, (e) any other errors or problems in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors that may occur in the administration of the Contest, the announcement of the winner, the cancellation or postponement of the event, if applicable, the incorrect downloading of the application the processing of entries application downloads or in any Contest-related materials; or (f) injury, death, losses or damages of any kind, to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrants participation in the contest or acceptance, receipt or misuse of the prize (including any travel or activity related thereto). Entrant further agrees that in any cause of action, the Released Parties liability will be limited to the cost of entering and participating in the Contest, and in no event shall the entrant be entitled to receive attorney's fees. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. Entrant waives the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.

Except where prohibited, each entrant agrees that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court located in North Carolina. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, entrant's rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of the Sponsor in connection with the contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of North Carolina, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules, which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than North Carolina.

Information collected from entrants is subject to the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. privacy policy.