Norfolk’s International Azalea Festival is gearing up for a week long schedule of events from April 27 to May 3.  This will be the 56th International NATO Azalea Festival. This year celebrates the Czech Republic and  Representing her country and serving as queen of the festival is Captain Magdalena Dvorakova.

Magdalena Dvorakova

Magda is a resident of Prague, Czech Republic, and currently works in the Military Office of Mr. Vaclav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic. Her military career also has taken her abroad to Kosovo, and to Texas, Michigan, Missouri and Maryland for training.

At age 17, Magda left home for a year to be a  foreign exchange student in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. She later graduated from the Military University of Ground Forces in Vyskov, Czech Republic.

Captain Dvorakova is the second active duty Queen in the history of the Festival, following in the steps of Captain Mariola Kasemier, a Royal Netherlands army officer, who served as Queen in 2008. A film about Captain Kasemier, produced for the 2008 Azalea Festival, later won the International Military Film Festival in Barriciano, Italy.

While on her first visit to Norfolk last week, Captain Dvorakova visited St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children and met with all of the Historic Norfolk Unit Troops from the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast.

I had the pleasure of meeting her at a special reception at the Chrysler Museum.

Join us April 27 – May 3 when Captain Magdalena Dvorakova, Queen Azalea LVI, returns to Norfolk for Festival Week.

Visit http://azaleafestival.org/events.asp for a complete list of events.