Vietnam will take centre stage on the global beauty calendar after being officially named the host country for the 2026 Miss World Festival — a landmark edition that marks 75 years since the pageant first captured the world’s imagination.
The festival will stage the 73rd edition of Miss World, one of the oldest and most widely followed international beauty competitions. Multiple cities across Vietnam are expected to host activities throughout the event, giving the country a sustained, high-profile platform to present its culture, tourism and hospitality to a worldwide audience.
Founded in 1951, Miss World has grown far beyond its origins into a global institution — one that has made humanitarian work as central to its identity as the crowning moment itself. The 75th anniversary edition carries weight beyond the usual pageant fanfare, representing seven decades of cultural exchange, charitable impact and women’s empowerment played out on an international stage.
The weeks leading up to the grand finale will be packed with activity. Contestants will take part in talent showcases, sports challenges, fashion events and cultural tours, alongside the pageant’s signature “Beauty With a Purpose” projects — humanitarian initiatives that each contestant champions in her home country and presents on the world stage.
The field is set to be one of the most diverse in recent memory, with debuts from new nations and the return of countries that had previously stepped away from the competition, broadening the pageant’s international reach ahead of its milestone anniversary.
When the grand finale arrives, reigning Miss World Suchata Chuangsri of Thailand will pass the crown to her successor — a new global ambassador who will carry the organisation’s humanitarian mission into its next chapter.
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For Vietnam, the opportunity is considerable. Miss World draws international media and tourism interest on a scale few events can match, and the 2026 festival gives the country a rare chance to introduce its landscapes, heritage and contemporary identity to a truly global audience.
Organisers say that showcasing Vietnam to the world is as central to the occasion as the competition itself.