# Open Source Pageants: a free method for running a pageant

Source: https://bombyhead.com/osp/
Updated: 2026-11-13 (beta, version 1.0)
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Credit "Open Source Pageants (bombyhead.com/osp)".

Free to use. Free to improve.

Open Source Pageants (OSP) is a free, opinionated guide to running a beginner-level pageant: festival and fair queens, county titles, small local pageants. It's written for every pageant director.

OSP is a method, not a pageant system. There's no OSP title, crown or finals. Take what works for you, change what doesn't, and use the checklists to make sure nothing gets missed.

> **A rising tide lifts all boats.** OSP exists to help every director, new and experienced, run the kind of pageant contestants deserve. Every well-run pageant gives families a reason to enter the next one, and that makes the whole pageant industry stronger.

**This is a beta.** It's improving as directors weigh in. Tell us what's wrong, what's missing, and what you'd change: **support@bombyhead.com**. Look for the **Help wanted** notes: they mark the places where directors' experience would help most. A sentence or two by email is plenty.

## Who is this for?

All pageant directors.

- **New directors** get a prescribed way to run a pageant, start to finish, and can adjust it as they see fit.
- **Experienced directors** can look through it for ideas worth bringing into the pageants they already run.

**Two kinds of advice.** Items marked (core standard) are what every pageant run on this method does: the experience promise, fair play, the Safeguarding Standard, and the lines not to cross. Everything else is a recommended default, a strong starting point to adapt to your pageant.

## Start here: your first pageant

Never run a pageant? Do these six things in order. Everything else on this page is there when you need it.

1. **Choose your format.** A local pageant, a fair or festival queen, or a county title. Start with five wide divisions (see the standard setup).
2. **Work out your break-even.** Price your venue, crowns and sashes, then see how many contestants you need (see Earning more).
3. **Check there's demand.** Before you book anything, ask about 20 families you know whether they'd enter. If fewer than ten say yes, start smaller, or partner with a local festival.
4. **Book the venue and pick a date** that doesn't clash with nearby pageants (see Choosing a venue).
5. **Settle the rules, then open registration** (see Before you open registration and the Starter kit).
6. **Follow the week-by-week plan** (see Week by week).

### Finding your first 15 contestants

- [ ] Everyone who said yes when you checked demand
- [ ] Families you know from pageants you've attended as a parent or contestant
- [ ] Friends, neighbors and coworkers with children
- [ ] Dance and cheer studios, schools, churches and youth groups
- [ ] Local pageant groups and pageant listing sites
- [ ] Ask each family who registers to bring one friend

Want to see it all put together? The Worked example follows a made-up 15-contestant pageant from budget to crowning.

## The contestant experience promise (core standard)

Every contestant should leave feeling it was worth it, crown or not. For many children, a pageant is a first chance to speak in public, try something brave and make friends. Make these five promises to every family:

1. **A fair chance.** Every contestant is judged on the same published standards. Fees, extras, friendships and fundraising never touch a judged result.
2. **Respect and encouragement.** Staff, judges and helpers are kind to every contestant. No one is embarrassed, criticized for how they look, or made to feel less because they didn't win.
3. **A well-run day.** Families know where to go, what to bring, and when they'll be finished. Their time and money are respected.
4. **Everyone is celebrated.** Every contestant is called by name on stage and goes home with something to remember the day.
5. **A reason to come back.** Every family leaves knowing what their contestant did well, what to work on, and what's next.

A pageant isn't measured by how many crowns it hands out. It's measured by how many contestants would gladly do it again.

## The pageant on one page

A pageant is a small event business. Many directors run one a year; others run several, often for the same families. Plan each one like a business: know where the money comes from, what it costs, and who you need on the day.

### Where the money comes from

- **Entry fees.** Set them so entries alone cover the venue and the crowns.
- **Optional extras.** One or two inexpensive add-ons, such as Photogenic and Supreme.
- **People's Choice.** Paid online voting, where supporters vote by donating, usually with a share going to a local charity. It's often the biggest single source of income.
- **Sponsors and program-book ads.** Local businesses, and families who want a page for their contestant.
- **Tickets** at the door, if your venue and audience suit it.

### Where it goes

- [ ] The venue, plus any deposit, cleaning fee or required insurance
- [ ] Crowns, sashes and trophies (title-only sashes early; sashes with names need a firm deadline)
- [ ] Thank-you gifts or a fee for judges, and the emcee
- [ ] Printing: the program, scoresheets, signs
- [ ] Payment processing fees
- [ ] Decorations, a backdrop, and sound if the venue has none

**Help wanted:** What do your venue, crowns, sashes and judges cost? A rough range for your area helps.

**Help wanted:** Where do you buy your crowns and sashes? Tell us a supplier you'd recommend, and how far ahead you order.

### The people you need on the day

- [ ] **The director**, who runs the show and makes the final call on anything the rules don't cover
- [ ] **Three judges**, who tell you anyone they know and step aside from scoring them
- [ ] **A tabulator** who adds up the scores and is never a judge
- [ ] **An emcee**
- [ ] **Check-in and backstage helpers**, with at least two adults wherever children are
- [ ] **A photographer**, if you sell photos or want them for promoting your next pageant

## Ten practices

If you only read one part, read this one.

1. **Aim for at least 15 contestants at your first pageant, and at least your break-even number.** Size is what makes a first pageant feel worth doing again. Keep divisions few and invite families personally until you get there.
2. **Keep divisions few, and add more as you grow.** Start a first pageant with five wide divisions; an established pageant can run 6 to 10 in two-to-three-year bands. Merge any division with fewer than three contestants into the nearest one, and say so in the rules from day one.
3. **Run People's Choice voting for two to three weeks.** Open it about three weeks before the pageant, give a share to a local charity, crown its winner on the day, and keep it separate from the judged titles.
4. **Charge a modest entry fee, and don't apologize for it.** $40 to $75 for a local pageant. Families expect to pay for a well-run day.
5. **Add one or two cheap, easy extras.** Photogenic and Supreme. Skip extras that ask families for a lot of preparation.
6. **Open registration 6 to 10 weeks out, and save your energy for the last two weeks.** That's when most families sign up. Plan your reminders and posts for those two weeks.
7. **Get your registration page in front of a lot of people, and make it easy on a phone.** Filling even a small pageant takes hundreds of people seeing the page. Most families sign up on their phones, often from the school car line, so test it start to finish on one.
8. **Talk to every family directly.** A welcome when they register, reminders before the day, and their scores afterward.
9. **Use three judges, three scored areas, and a separate Photogenic.** Simple scoring families can understand, judges can finish on time, and you can tabulate without stress.
10. **Tell families where your winners go next, before they register.** One line on the registration page. See "Where winners go next."

## Bringing new families into pageantry

The pageant world grows when families who've never tried a pageant try one and love it, not when directors trade the same families back and forth.

- [ ] Partner with dance and cheer studios, schools, youth groups, libraries and community festivals
- [ ] Explain exactly what happens on the day: the schedule, what an interview is, and what to wear
- [ ] Say plainly that no expensive gown, coach or experience is needed
- [ ] Publish the total cost to a family, and which extras are optional
- [ ] Ask at registration whether it's their first pageant, so you can look after them
- [ ] Welcome first-timers personally at check-in, and show them the stage before they walk it
- [ ] Give every first-timer their scores and one encouraging note to take home

**Help wanted:** How do you bring in families who've never done a pageant before?

## Earning more

Entry fees should cover your costs; the ideas below are where a pageant earns. Add a few at a time, and stop before families feel nickel-and-dimed.

### Know your break-even before you open registration

- **Fixed costs:** what you spend whatever the turnout, such as the venue, insurance, sound and decorations.
- **Cost per contestant:** what each entry costs you, such as a crown or trophy, a sash, printing and payment fees.
- **Break-even contestants** = fixed costs ÷ (entry fee − cost per contestant).

A made-up example: $800 of fixed costs, a $60 entry fee and $20 per contestant leaves $40 from each entry, so you need 20 contestants to break even on entries alone.

Plan so entry fees cover the essentials. Treat People's Choice, sponsors and extras as the margin, never as what pays the venue, and keep a small reserve for refunds and surprises.

### From families

- [ ] People's Choice (see "People's Choice, done well" below)
- [ ] An entry package: entry plus the popular extras, at a small discount
- [ ] Early-bird pricing, and a late fee after the deadline
- [ ] A returning-contestant discount, offered at the crowning for your next pageant
- [ ] Program-book pages where families send a message to their contestant
- [ ] Admission at the door, with a family price

### People's Choice, done well

Pageants are big on giving back, and People's Choice is a natural way to do it. Run well, it's a community fundraiser families are proud to share, not a way to buy a crown.

- [ ] Pick a local charity or community cause, and say what share of the voting money it gets
- [ ] Call it a separate award in your rules and on the registration page, and never let it touch the judged titles
- [ ] Explain in writing how voting works, where the money goes, and when it closes
- [ ] Ask parents and supporters to vote; never ask a child to ask for votes
- [ ] Show standings without dollar totals, so it stays fun instead of becoming a bidding war
- [ ] Plan a kickoff post, a midpoint reminder and a final-day push
- [ ] Announce the charity total at the crowning, pay it promptly, and keep the receipt
- [ ] Thank every voter
- [ ] If you use a voting platform, check what percentage it keeps and how and when you're paid; compare platforms on that, not just features

### From the community

- [ ] Division and award sponsors: a local business's name on the sash, in the program and in the emcee's script
- [ ] Program-book ads in full, half and quarter pages, and business-card size
- [ ] Vendor tables at the pageant: boutiques, photographers, hair and make-up artists
- [ ] Concessions or a bake sale, if the venue allows (a school group or club may run it for a share)

**Help wanted:** How do you approach a sponsor, and what do you offer them in return?

### Around the day

- [ ] A photographer who shares in photo sales, or a headshot session before the pageant
- [ ] Pageant T-shirts or keepsakes
- [ ] A raffle or 50/50 drawing, after checking your state's rules

### More than one pageant

- [ ] A second pageant in another season, such as a spring pageant and a holiday pageant, for the same families
- [ ] An online photo contest between pageants
- [ ] A mini pageant at a local festival or fair

### Keep more of what you earn

- [ ] Order crowns and trophies in bulk, for more than one pageant
- [ ] Reuse your backdrop and signs
- [ ] Ask the venue for a lower rate in exchange for sponsor credit

**Help wanted:** What's your best money-maker beyond entry fees?

**Two lines not to cross:** a title is never for sale, and no extra ever changes a judged score.

## Choosing a venue

Most local pageants don't need a theater. They need a stage or a front of the room, two dressing areas, a quiet room for interviews, and seats for families.

### Where local pageants are usually held

| Venue | Notes |
| --- | --- |
| School auditoriums and gyms | High school and elementary auditoriums. Often free or low cost, especially if a school group shares in the proceeds. |
| Community and civic centers | County community centers, civic centers, rural development centers, extension offices. |
| Local performing arts centers | Town auditoriums and small theaters. Real stage and lighting; book early. |
| Hotel conference rooms and ballrooms | Easy for families traveling in. Ask for a room block and a meeting room for interviews. |
| Church fellowship halls | Low cost, with kitchens and parking. Check any rules on wardrobe and music. |
| Fairgrounds and festival stages | The natural home for fair and festival queens. The fair or festival often provides the stage. |
| Club and lodge halls | Lions Club, VFW, American Legion, Elks. Inexpensive, and the club may sponsor a title. |
| Event barns and wedding venues | Pretty for photos; check for heat, cold, power and dressing space. |

### Before you sign

- [ ] A stage or raised area everyone in the audience can see
- [ ] Two separate dressing areas, so older and younger contestants (or girls and boys) can change apart
- [ ] A private room for interviews, with a door that can stay open and space for a second adult
- [ ] Enough seats for every contestant's family, at about four guests each
- [ ] A sound system and microphone, or permission to bring one
- [ ] Heat and air conditioning, restrooms near the dressing areas, and accessible entrances
- [ ] Parking, and an easy place to drop off garment bags
- [ ] Load-in and rehearsal time on the day, and when you must be out
- [ ] Whether outside food is allowed, and whether you can sell concessions
- [ ] Deposit, cancellation terms, and whether they need proof of insurance
- [ ] For outdoor stages: a rain plan, shade, and a covered dressing area
- [ ] No clash with another pageant nearby on the same date

**Help wanted:** Where do you hold your pageant, what does it cost, and what do you wish you'd checked before signing?

## Before you open registration

Get these settled first. Changing them after families have registered costs you trust.

- [ ] Date and venue booked
- [ ] Divisions and ages, with the merge rule (see the standard setup)
- [ ] Entry fee, extras and People's Choice dates
- [ ] Written rules: eligibility, age cut-off date, wardrobe for each age, scoring areas and weights, how ties are broken
- [ ] Refund and withdrawal policy
- [ ] Parent or guardian consent form, with separate permission to publish photos and video
- [ ] How families will pay, and a separate bank account for the pageant
- [ ] Where winners go next, in one line
- [ ] Judges asked (see Judges, below; finding them takes longer than you think)
- [ ] An emcee and a tabulator
- [ ] Liability insurance, if the venue requires it
- [ ] A registration page with the date, place, divisions, fees, what the entry includes, and rules, and a contact email you check daily
- [ ] Registration tested start to finish on a phone
- [ ] A word with a local accountant about how to report the pageant's income

## Judges

Finding judges is the job directors most often say is hardest. Start early, ask more people than you need, and make judging easy for them.

### Where to find them

- Former titleholders, from your area or nearby states
- Pageant coaches who haven't coached any of your contestants
- Directors of other pageants (offer to judge theirs in return)
- Local business owners, teachers, school counselors, and TV or radio personalities
- Pageant judge groups and directories online

### Asking

- [ ] Ask six to eight weeks out, and line up one alternate
- [ ] Say up front what you offer: a meal, a thank-you gift and gas money at least, or a fee if you can
- [ ] Ask each judge whom they know. No relatives or anyone they've coached in the past 12 months; in a small town, a judge who knows a contestant steps aside from scoring that one
- [ ] Confirm in writing two weeks out, and again two days out

### What to send them a week before

- [ ] The schedule, arrival time, address, parking, and what to wear
- [ ] The scoring areas, their weights, and what a high, middle and low score looks like in each
- [ ] How long each contestant gets in interview and on stage
- [ ] The divisions and ages they'll be judging
- [ ] The Judging guide, especially for first-time judges

### On the day

- [ ] A 15-minute briefing before the first contestant, with a practice score so everyone uses the scale the same way
- [ ] Judges don't talk with families or contestants before results
- [ ] Score sheets go straight to the tabulator
- [ ] Water, snacks and a break between sessions

**Afterward:** a handwritten thank-you note, and an invitation to judge your next pageant.

**Help wanted:** Where do you find your judges, and how do you thank them?

## Week by week

Start about three months out, open registration about ten weeks out, and expect most of the work in the last two weeks.

**12+ weeks out**

- [ ] Pick a date that doesn't clash with nearby pageants
- [ ] Book the venue
- [ ] Choose your divisions and fees
- [ ] Start asking judges and an emcee

**10 weeks out**

- [ ] Open registration
- [ ] Publish the rules, scoring areas and weights, the schedule, and where winners go next

**8 weeks out**

- [ ] Start promoting in local pageant groups and community pages
- [ ] Ask past families to share (first pageant: everyone who said yes when you checked demand)
- [ ] Follow up with families who looked but didn't register
- [ ] Approach sponsors and sell program-book ads
- [ ] Order crowns and trophies

**3 weeks out**

- [ ] Open People's Choice voting
- [ ] Send every family a note on how voting works

**2 weeks out**

- [ ] The push: remind, repost, and answer questions the same day
- [ ] Numbers low? Message every family from your last pageant, or everyone you asked when you checked demand, directly and one at a time, with the link
- [ ] Confirm judges, emcee, tabulator and helpers
- [ ] Named sashes? Order them now for everyone registered, and use title-only sashes for late entries

**2–3 days out**

- [ ] Close registration
- [ ] Merge thin divisions and tell those families
- [ ] Finish the lineup, print the program and scoresheets
- [ ] Send families the schedule, arrival time and what to bring

**The week after**

- [ ] Send each family their contestant's scores
- [ ] Thank sponsors, judges and helpers
- [ ] Post the winners and photos (with permission); scores go to each family privately
- [ ] Start your winners on their next step
- [ ] Ask families what to improve
- [ ] Do the health check (below)
- [ ] Set the date of your next pageant

## Pageant day

- [ ] Arrive early enough to set up the stage, sound, check-in table and dressing areas
- [ ] Check-in table with the contestant list, numbers and a named safeguarding contact
- [ ] Two adults in every dressing area, and in the interview room
- [ ] Brief the judges: scoring areas, what each score means, how long each contestant gets
- [ ] The tabulator sits apart from the judges and works from their sheets only
- [ ] A printed running order for the emcee, backstage and sound
- [ ] Music ready and tested, with a backup on a second device
- [ ] A plan for a late judge and for no-shows
- [ ] Crowns, sashes and trophies laid out by division, in crowning order
- [ ] Results read from the tabulator's sheet, checked once before announcing
- [ ] First aid kit, water, safety pins and a sewing kit

**Help wanted:** What went wrong on pageant day, and how did you fix it? Every story makes this list better.

## The health check

Within a week of the pageant, take half an hour and answer these. Compare them with last time.

- [ ] How many contestants were at their first pageant?
- [ ] How many came back from one of your earlier pageants?
- [ ] How many families said they'd recommend you to a friend?
- [ ] Did the pageant cover its costs and pay everything it promised, including any charity share?
- [ ] Did it start and finish close to schedule?
- [ ] Were questions about scores handled quickly and fairly?
- [ ] How many helpers, sponsors and community partners took part?

Then write down three things you'll do better next time.

## The standard setup

Five wide divisions for a first pageant, eight once you've grown, merging when thin, a modest entry fee, a few cheap extras, People's Choice, and three judges scoring three areas. It works on paper, in a spreadsheet, or in any pageant software.

### Divisions

| Division | Ages on pageant day |
| --- | --- |
| Baby | 0–23 months |
| Tiny | 2–4 |
| Little | 5–7 |
| Junior | 8–10 |
| Pre-Teen | 11–13 |
| Teen | 14–16 |
| Miss | 17–23 |
| Ms. and Mrs. | 24 and up |

Add Mister divisions if your area expects them.

### For a first pageant: five wide divisions

| Division | Ages on pageant day |
| --- | --- |
| Tiny | 0–4 |
| Little | 5–8 |
| Junior | 9–12 |
| Teen | 13–17 |
| Miss | 18 and up |

Move to the eight standard divisions once most of your wide divisions draw six or more contestants.

**The merge rule:** any division with fewer than three contestants at the deadline joins the nearest age division. Merge one step only, merge Baby only with Tiny, and never merge if the combined division would span more than about four years of age. In that case, run the small division as it is: with two contestants, crown a winner and a first runner-up; with one, crown them. Say all of this in your rules.

### Common variations

- **A small first pageant.** Use the five wide divisions above. The Worked example shows 15 contestants split across them.
- **Fair and festival queens.** Often just a few titles, such as Little Miss, Teen and Miss, with interview and community knowledge weighted most. The fair or festival's rules come first.
- **A preliminary for a state system.** That system's rules come first; use OSP for everything they don't cover.
- **County or multi-county titles.** Publish a residency rule, such as living, working or going to school in the county.
- **Adaptive divisions.** Many pageants offer a special-needs division, or adapt any division with extra time, a parent on stage, or a quiet check-in. Ask families at registration what would help.

### Fees and extras

| Item | Price |
| --- | --- |
| Entry | $50 (fair queens $40; city and county titles up to $120) |
| Photogenic | $10 |
| Outfit of Choice | $15 |
| Supreme (an optional overall competition across divisions) | $25 |
| People's Choice | Free to enter; supporters vote by donating, with a share to a local charity |

### Scoring

- Three judges, each scoring every contestant in every area on a 10-point scale.
- Interview 35%, Formal Wear 40%, On-Stage (fun fashion or introduction) 25%. For Baby and Tiny, Interview becomes a short on-stage introduction.
- Judges score presentation: poise, confidence and how a contestant carries themselves. Never what an outfit cost, its label, or how a child looks.
- Supreme is an optional entry, never a bought title: every entrant pays the same fee and is judged on the same scores.
- Photogenic is judged from photos before pageant day.
- **When a judge steps aside** from a contestant they know, give that contestant the average of the other judges' scores in each area. If two judges give 8 and 9 in Interview, the third score is 8.5, so every contestant is scored on the same scale.
- Ties go to the higher Interview score, then to the most judges ranking that contestant higher.
- Every division with three or more contestants crowns a winner and two runners-up.

**Help wanted:** What's in your prize packages for winners and runners-up? Crowns, sashes and trophies, and anything else: gift cards, photo sessions, gift baskets, free entry next time.

### Fair play (core standard)

- [ ] Scoring areas and weights are published with the rules
- [ ] Judges tell the director whom they know. No relatives or anyone they've coached in the past 12 months; a judge who knows a contestant steps aside, and the tabulator averages the other judges for that contestant
- [ ] The tabulator is never a judge, and the director doesn't change scores
- [ ] Every family gets their own contestant's scores after the pageant
- [ ] People's Choice crowns its own title and never affects the judged titles
- [ ] A family can raise a concern within 48 hours, and the director answers in writing

## Where winners go next

Decide where your winners go next before you open registration, and say it in one line on the registration page. A title with somewhere to go is worth more to a family than one that ends on the day.

**Families circle; they don't just climb.** The same families enter several pageants a season, moving between local, county and state pageants in every direction. Treat the directors around you as partners, not competitors: avoid each other's dates, share good judges and suppliers, help new directors, and recommend another pageant when yours isn't the right fit. Never share contestant lists.

### Ways to give your winners a next step

| Option | How it works |
| --- | --- |
| A next-step list | Give winners a short list of state and national pageants that accept local titleholders, with ages, fees and dates. |
| A titleholder exchange | Agree with neighboring directors to honor each other's titles with a free or discounted entry. |
| A feeder agreement | Become an official preliminary for a state pageant, so your winner earns a place there. Fair and festival queens often have this through their state fair association. |
| A titleholder year | Give winners things to do: a community event in the first three months, parades, festivals, a service project they choose, and crowning next year's winner. |

### The rules for any next step

- [ ] Say exactly what the title wins: a free entry, a place in a state finals, or appearances
- [ ] Before recommending a state or national pageant, ask its total cost to a family, including fees, travel and required extras
- [ ] Never send a winner somewhere that charges a fee to accept a title
- [ ] A title is won, never sold
- [ ] Agree on appearances in advance: reasonable for the child's age, with travel costs settled up front. A titleholder's year is never free promotion for the pageant
- [ ] Keep in touch with your titleholders through the year, through a parent or guardian for minors

**Help wanted:** Is your pageant a preliminary for a state title? How did you set it up?

## The Safeguarding Standard (core standard)

Most contestants at local pageants are children, so these rules are part of the method, not an appendix. Suggestions can make them stronger; they can't make them weaker. Where your state law or your venue asks for more, follow it.

Items marked **(proposed)** are ones we especially want reviewers to weigh in on.

### People

1. Every adult working the pageant is named in advance, and the director can say who they are and why they're there.
2. Two adults wherever children are: the dressing area, the interview room, backstage. No adult is ever alone with a child who isn't their own.
3. A child's interview happens in view of a second adult, and a parent may watch.
4. Adults who supervise children pass a background check. **(proposed)** Who pays, and which check?
5. One named safeguarding contact and an alternate on the day, announced at check-in, and every adult knows their state's duty to report abuse.

### Contact and privacy

6. Staff and judges contact a minor only through a parent or guardian: no private messages, texts or social-media follows.
7. A parent or guardian consents at registration, with separate permission for photos and video to be published.
8. Published photos never pair a child's full name with their school or hometown. No phones or cameras in the dressing area.
9. Contestant names, ages and contact details are never sold, shared or traded, including with other directors.

### The competition

10. Children are judged on confidence, poise and presentation, never on their bodies.
11. Wardrobe and make-up rules for each age are published with the rules. No swimwear competition under 18. **(proposed)**
12. People's Choice requests go to parents and supporters, never pressure a child, and are never sent by a child on the pageant's behalf.

### When something happens

13. Report suspected abuse to the authorities as your state requires. Don't investigate it yourself first.
14. Remove anyone who may be a risk from contact with contestants right away.
15. Children leave only with a parent, guardian, or an adult the parent named at check-in.
16. Write down what happened, keep it private, and share it only with those who need to know.
17. Every helper gets the written rules for photos, the dressing area and supervision before the day.

## Common questions

The questions new directors ask most, answered in a sentence or three.

### Supplies

**Where do I get crowns and sashes?**
Directors buy them from sash makers on Etsy, pageant supply shops, and local trophy and engraving shops, many of which do crowns and sashes too. Local embroidery and screen-print shops can make named sashes. Ask other directors who they use, and order one sample before you order them all.

**When do I order them?**
Order crowns, trophies and title-only sashes about eight weeks out. Sashes with names take time to make, so order them two weeks out for everyone registered and use title-only sashes for late entries, or confirm a rush order with your supplier in advance. Buy one or two spares, and check every name against your registration list.

**How do I collect photos for the program book?**
Ask for the photo at registration, set a deadline a week before registration closes, and send one reminder. Say what you need: a recent headshot, the file type, and how big.

### People

**Where do I find judges?**
Former titleholders, pageant coaches from outside your area, directors of other pageants, and respected local people. Ask six to eight weeks out, and line up one alternate. See Judges for the full checklist, and send them the Judging guide.

**Do I pay judges?**
Many local pageants give judges a meal, a thank-you gift and gas money rather than a fee. Whatever you choose, say it when you ask them.

**How many helpers do I need?**
Two at check-in, two adults in each dressing area, one with the judges for interviews, one or two backstage to line contestants up, one on music, plus the emcee and the tabulator. Friends and family are fine, as long as they're named in advance.

**Where do I find contestants?**
See "Finding your first 15 contestants" in Start here. Start with people you know: past families, local pageant groups, coaches, photographers, dance and cheer studios, and community pages. List your pageant on pageant listing sites too. Personal invitations work better than posts, and ask every family who registers to share your page.

**My numbers are low before the deadline. What do I do?**
Message every family from your last pageant (first pageant: everyone you asked when you checked demand) directly, one at a time, with the registration link. Put the fee and what it includes (crown, sash, prizes) on every flyer and post. Make sure registration is easy on a phone. Then let the merge rule handle thin divisions rather than cancelling.

### Money

**How do I take payments?**
Take entries and extras online, through your registration form, so every payment matches a contestant. Avoid taking entry fees in cash or through personal payment apps. Send a receipt for every payment, and keep a separate bank account for the pageant.

**Do I need insurance?**
Many venues require event liability insurance, and it's wise even when they don't. Ask an insurance agent about a one-day event policy.

**What's a fair refund policy?**
Publish it before you open registration and apply it to everyone. A common one: a full refund up to a set date, a credit toward your next pageant after that, and no refunds once registration closes.

### Rules

**How do I count ages?**
Use the contestant's age on pageant day, or on a cut-off date you publish. Count baby divisions in months, not years.

**What if a division has only one contestant?**
Merge it into the nearest age division and tell that family as soon as registration closes. Put the merge rule in your rules from day one so nobody is surprised.

**Isn't People's Choice just buying a title?**
Not when it's run well. It's a separate award that never touches the judged titles, and most pageants give a share to a local charity, so it works as a community fundraiser. Say all of that in writing before families register. See "People's Choice, done well."

**Do extras count toward the main title?**
No. Photogenic, Outfit of Choice and People's Choice are separate awards with their own winners. Say so in your rules.

### Pageant day

**How long will the pageant take?**
Time one contestant through every area, multiply by your number of contestants, and add crowning and breaks. If it runs past about four hours, split it into sessions by age, with the youngest first.

**What if a judge or contestant is late?**
Bring in your alternate judge rather than holding the show. Move a late contestant to the end of their division. Never hold up the whole pageant for one person.

**A family is upset about the results. What do I do?**
Listen, thank them, and don't argue on the day. Say you'll look into it and answer in writing within 48 hours. Re-check the math; if there was a mistake, fix it and say so. Show them their own contestant's scores, never anyone else's. Online, take it to a private message rather than replying in public.

**What music can I play?**
Ask your venue whether it holds a music license; many schools and hotels do. Keep every contestant's music on one device in running order, with a backup on a second.

**What if I have to postpone?**
Tell every family right away, in writing, with the new date. Offer a full refund to anyone who can't make it.

**Help wanted:** What do new directors or families ask you most? Send us the question, and your answer if you have one.

## Chapters to come

OSP starts with this page and adds one chapter at a time, each going deeper on one question.

1. **Divisions that fill:** how many, which ages, and when to merge.
2. **Fees, extras and your budget:** what to charge, breaking even, and earning more.
3. **People's Choice, done well:** paid voting without souring families.
4. **Finding and briefing judges:** going deeper than the Judges section.
5. **Scoring and fair results:** scoring families trust.
6. **Venues:** finding, booking and setting up the room.
7. **Crowns, sashes and titles:** what to order, how many, and when.
8. **Pageant day:** check-in, running order, late judges, no-shows, music.
9. **Answering families:** so you don't answer the same question 40 times.
10. **Sponsors and the program book:** money beyond entry fees.
11. **Where winners go next:** partners, feeders and the titleholder year.
12. **Year two:** keeping families and growing.
13. **A family guide to a first pageant:** what to expect, what to wear, and what it costs, for directors to share.
14. **Safeguarding in practice:** what the rules look like on the day.

## How OSP is run

OSP is a community project, hosted by Bombyhead but not owned by it. Anyone can contribute. Jim Cook, Bombyhead's founder, is the current editor.

**License: CC BY-SA 4.0.** Anyone may copy OSP, change it and republish it, even for profit, as long as they credit Open Source Pageants and share their version under the same license. A changed copy can't call itself the official OSP, but any pageant that follows the method may say "Run on the Open Source Pageants method."

**You're still in charge.** Directors are responsible for following their state's laws, their venue's rules, and the rules of any pageant system they're part of. Where those ask for more than OSP does, follow them.

**Software-neutral.** Everything here works on paper or in any software. OSP never tells you to use a particular product.

**Opinionated, and yours to change.** The advice draws on what has worked across many real local pageants. It's a strong starting point, not a rulebook; every director decides what to keep.

### How to contribute

You don't need to write a finished section. Send a casual email to **support@bombyhead.com** with as little or as much as you want to say: a tip, a story, something you'd change, or a whole chapter. No forms, no account, no polish needed.

For now, Jim reads every email and edits the ideas into the guide. As OSP grows, more editors will join, and contributing will stay this easy. Changes are listed in the version history, and you're credited by name if you'd like to be.

**Used any part of this?** Tell us how it went, even in a line. Those stories are how we'll know it's helping.

## Questions for you

These are the answers we need most. If you've run pageants for a while, what you know is exactly what a new director needs. A quick email to **support@bombyhead.com** is plenty, even a sentence or two.

1. **Venues.** Where do you hold your pageant, what does it cost, and what do you wish you'd checked before signing?
2. **Costs.** What does your pageant spend on the venue, crowns and trophies, judges and printing?
3. **Divisions.** Do the eight standard divisions fit your area? Is "merge under three" fair to families?
4. **Scoring.** Are Interview 35%, Formal Wear 40%, On-Stage 25% right for beginner pageants?
5. **Where winners go next.** Would you join a titleholder exchange with neighboring directors? Is your pageant a preliminary for a state title?
6. **Safeguarding.** Should background checks and no swimwear under 18 be required? What's missing?
7. **The checklists.** What did you forget at your first pageant that should be on one?
8. **The name.** Does "Open Source Pageants" make sense to directors, or does it sound technical?

## Version history

OSP is in beta. Until its first public release, every change is folded into version 1.0. After release, each approved change gets a row here with a new version number.

| Version | Date | Changed by | What changed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1.0 | November 13, 2026 | Jim Cook | Beta draft for review: who it's for, the pageant on one page, the contestant experience promise, start here for first-time directors, ten practices, bringing new families into pageantry, earning more (with a break-even worksheet and People's Choice done well), choosing a venue, judges, a separate judging guide, a worked example (the Larkspur Valley Pageant), a starter kit of templates, the checklists (before registration, week by week, pageant day), the standard setup, where winners go next, the health check, the Safeguarding Standard, common questions, chapters to come and how OSP is run. |

## Help write it

**Experienced directors, this part is for you.** The pageant world has given you a lot: the families, the friendships, and the lessons you learned the hard way. Giving back is how it stays strong. Every lesson you share saves a new director from a mistake you've already made, and gives the next contestant a better day.

**Make it as easy as you like.** Send a casual email to **support@bombyhead.com** with as little or as much as you want to say. You don't need to write a finished section; Jim Cook, the editor, will shape it into the guide. Tell us if you'd like to be credited by name.