Crystal Nemeci was named this year’s 2025 May Festival Queen at Selection Night held at the OHS Commons on Sunday afternoon. Queen Crystal will be joined by her court of princesses, Ariona Nelson, Gwyndolyn Thompson and Annalisa Quezada.

Nemeci will be joined by her court of princesses, Ariona Nelson, Gwyndolyn Thompson and Annalisa Quezada. They will represent Oroville during this year’s May Festival, Garden of Dreams on May 10, as well as at festivals throughout the region.

Selection Night began with the introduction of the 2024 reigning royalty, Queen Anna Hernandez and Princesses Sierra Buckmiller and Jayden Glover, by Master of Ceremonies Mike Egerton. He also introduced this year’s judges, Ed Naillon, Ashley Range, Melisa Turner, Lauree Click and Sonia Rose.

The candidates for this year’s royalty, Nelson, Thompson, Quezada and Nemecio were then introduced and gave speeches about themselves and what May Festival means to each one of them.

Egerton then explained the voting rules and process and how much each part of the process was weighed to determine who would serve as queen.

“Candidates are judged in four categories, personal interviews for 25 percent; speech, 30 percent; impromptu question, 20 percent and modeling and poise 25 percent,” said Egerton. “Overall percentages: our community and student votes are worth 35 percent and the judges’ scores worth 65 percent.”

Each candidate then participated in the Modeling and Poise section of the event by modeling their gown and taking a walk on the lighted catwalk. Egerton read descriptions of the candidate’s choice of gown, hair, make-up and jewelry. The candidates were helped up and down from the stage by the stair escorts, Luke Rawley and Jonathan Corrales. Afterwards, the young ladies were given a chance to answer an impromptu question which they each selected at random.

Thompson was the first candidate to draw and answer a question, which was “What is your biggest concern for the future?”

She answered, “There are a lot of concerns for the future. I tend to focus more on the positive but I think my biggest concern for the future is about how my life turns out, about the people around me. I just want the best of luck for the future.”

Quezada was next and her question was, “How would you describe Oroville?”

She answered, “Well, I would describe Oroville as a loving community and there are people in Oroville you can trust. There are just a lot of people in Oroville that can take care of you. Just about everyone in Oroville knows everybody else. That’s what makes Oroville kind of special.”

Nemecio’s was, “What advice would you give to the youth today?”

She replied, “My biggest advice would be ‘you only live once.’ I would go with that model. Go into a situation with logic, even if it is the wrong thing.”

Nelson’s question was “What is the importance of education?”

She replied, “You just want to know what to do. You have no knowledge of anything if you don’t have an education.”

The audience was asked to vote for the candidate they felt would best represent Oroville as the May Festival Queen. The votes were collected and these votes, along with the judges’ scoring, added up to Nemecio’s selection as queen and Quezada, Thompson and Nelson as her court of princesses.

As Egerton announced their names, each girl was handed a bouquet of roses by the 2024 royalty.

The ballot officials this year were Katelyn Peterson, Jamie Portwood and Peggy Shaw.

After she was selected, Nemecio said, “I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to be this year’s May Day Queen. It truly feels like a dream come true and it means so much to me to represent our town. I’m especially excited to share this experience with some of my closest friends. We’ve supported each other throughout this journey and now we get to continue it together in this new chapter.”

She went on to say, “I’m also deeply thankful for my family and friends for their unwavering love, support and encouragement. Their belief in me has meant the world and made this moment even more meaningful. A heartfelt thank you to everyone in the community who came out to support us on Selection Night. I’m excited for what’s to come!”

At the conclusion of Selection Night, the royalty, both those selected and from 2024, took time to pose for pictures before joining family and friends.

Shelly Roberts and the May Festival Association organized the event.

“We would like to thank everyone for attending tonight’s festivities and showing support for these lovely ladies. Your support is appreciated,” stated the association on the back of the Selection Night program.

This year’s May Festival will take place on the second Saturday in May, May 10.