ROOM FOR A PRINCE? VA. BEACH TEEN EYES ROLE IN NEPTUNE FESTIVAL’S ROYAL COURT
VIRGINIA BEACH — Evan Nied, a 16-year-old with the gift for gab, likes to have a hand in just about anything.
He manned a booth last year at the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival to spread awareness about his nonprofit organization that promotes planting trees. But his involvement sparked his interest in another aspect of the 47-yearold festival.
The royal court.
Every year, volunteers are picked to dress up and fill the ceremonial roles of King Neptune, his entourage of mermen called Tritons and a handful of mermaids called princesses. They preside over the festivities, greeting guests and mingling with sponsors.
Nied, a junior at Kempsville High School, wanted a piece of the action. But tradition seemed to be blocking his path. Men take the roles of King Neptune and the Tritons. And the princesses are teenage girls.
Not fitting into either category, Nied is trying to create one of his own. He wants to be a prince. And he wants to make it very clear he doesn’t want to be a princess.
“I looked at what options are available to me,” Nied said. “Unfortunately, there isn’t any opportunity for a high school boy such as myself to get involved.”
With the princess application deadline fast approaching, Nied
decided give it a shot.
He meets the eligibility requirements: His grade-point average is high, and he’s active in community organizations. Nied submitted a photo of himself in a collared shirt with the application.
“Why shouldn’t I be a prince?” he asked.
Nancy Creech, the festival’s president and CEO, said this week that princes aren’t part of the royal court. The festival, she said, tries to stick to the mythology. King Neptune was the Roman god of the sea and the tritons were his cohorts, she said.
“Neptune didn’t have any young men,” Creech said. “He had the tritons. They weren’t teenagers.”
But Creech also said she’s not opposed to re-evaluating the roles. No teenage boys have previously expressed interest in being on the royal court, she said.
“We’re always looking at what is the best thing to do,” she said. “We’re always open to do what is appropriate and what is valuable to the community.”
When informed that a teenage boy had submitted a princess application, Creech seemed surprised but reiterated that the festival organizers are receptive to change.
Nied noted that girls and boys are usually allowed to participate together at most events in school or the community. He hopes that at the grand parade next fall, he’ll be standing with the royal court, waving to the crowd.
“I want to be the prince on the float,” he said.
The judging for the princess applicants begins in a couple of weeks and includes an “evaluation of applicant’s poise, presentation, communicative skills, personality, grooming, posture and appearance,” according to the application.
“It’s not a beauty contest or a talent contest,” Creech said.
The Neptune Festival has been held annually since 1974. It was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but festival organizers are now gearing up for 2021.
It’s designed to celebrate the city and includes numerous events beginning in the spring with a gala and a wine tasting. The festival culminates at the end of September with Boardwalk Weekend: a parade on Atlantic Avenue, an art show and a world-renowned sandsculpting contest.
Ceremonial trappings are a big part of the royal court. A red carpet is rolled out for the coronation of the king, who wears a robe and carries a three-pronged spear called a trident. Princesses don sashes and tiaras.
And if Nied gets his way, festival organizers will have to figure out what its first prince will wear.