To earn a crown, one must be good at holding beer, at least when it comes to Whitefish's Great Northwest Oktoberfest hop queen pageant.  

Drawing back to its 19th century origins in Munich, Germany, the original hop queens were said to be the daughters of hop farmers.  

Today in Northwest Montana, no such royalty is required. All are welcome to try out, and individuality is embraced.  

"It's a pageant for people who aren't pageant people," said Megan Nuefeld, Whitefish Hop Queen VII. "It's more about the atmosphere and spirit." 

The pageant involves trying the best of Oktoberfest activities, like stein holding, log sawing and chicken dancing, and wearing the finest of dirndls, a folk costume.  

"It's not intimidating," said Ella Harrison, Hop Queen XI. "If you're considering running, just do it. It's a very open, loving and fun environment." 

Once crowned, a hop queen has the important job of keeping Oktoberfest lively. Embodying both tradition and spirit, hop queens "bring joy, help with competitions, interact with the crowds and dance with little kids," said Lauren Walton, Hop Queen IX.  

Walton is a mother of three and a veteran. She said her hop queen experience is a part of living the best second half of her life.  

"My favorite memory is being crowned by Bethany [Sloan, Hop Queen VIII] and just being a part of our group," Walton said. "It's magic ... we lift each other up." 

Shauna Dunn was crowned in 2014 as the first Hop Queen. 

"It was kicking off as an experimental thing," Dunn said. "It's awesome because ... now there are 11 of us running around doing Winter Carnival floats, Oktoberfest planning committees and hop queen luncheons."  

Dunn, a single mom with two kids, said she loves advocating for the community.  

“After summer ends and the tourists leave, the locals get to come out and enjoy," Dunn said. “You can still have this amazing pageantry and celebrate women. We run all over the place and have busy lives and careers, and we can still show up and be fun community advocates." 

Each hop queen receives a $500 prize and an additional $500 to donate to a nonprofit of their choice. Each also receives a sash and an authentic dirndl.  

"It was intimidating for me, being a hop queen, because I like to be unnoticed," said Sloan. "And it made me step up and say, 'present'. It's okay to stand out, and say this is who I am." 

The Great Northwest Oktoberfest is in Whitefish's Depot Park Oct. 1-3 and 8-10.  

The hop queen pageant has a qualifier round on Oct. 7 from 6-8 p.m. at Grouse Mountain Lodge with finals at Depot Park on Oct. 8. Download and submit an application by Oct. 5 at www.whitefishoktoberfest.com/hop-queen-info 

OKTOBERFEST ROYALTY

HOP QUEEN SHAUNA I 2014-2015 

HOP QUEEN CK II 2015-2016 

HOP QUEEN KENDRA III 2016-2017              

HOP QUEEN RIKKI IV 2017-2018      

HOP QUEEN KATE V 2018-2019        

HOP QUEEN BRITTNEY VI 2019-2020 

HOP QUEEN MEGHAN VII 2020-2022 

HOP QUEEN BETHANY VIII 2022-2023         

HOP QUEEN LAUREN IX 2023-2024 

HOP QUEEN CASEY X 2024-2025

HOP QUEEN ELLA XI 2025-2026