By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Bella Curcuru is the 2025 reigning Geneseo Music Festival Queen and she will present the crown to the 2026 Music Festival Queen at the upcoming pageant on Friday, June 19, in City Park. Photo by Claudia Loucks
Isabella (Bella) Curcuru was crowned queen of the 2025 Geneseo Music Festival Queen Pageant held on Friday, June 13, in Geneseo City Park. She received a $500 scholarship from Geneseo Rotary Club, which is the organization that sponsors the pageant each year.
She used the money to continue her education at Elmhurst University in Elmhurst, where she is majoring in neuroscience with a minor in psychology, and she said, “I personally was very grateful for the scholarship money, I put it straight towards my tuition! College racks up a lot of money so anything helps. It was a great bonus to winning!”
She is also on the women’s wrestling team at Elmhurst College and she said, “I stay very busy at school, and I also picked up two on-campus jobs as being a campus safety officer and a janitor. I also attend CRU (Christian Campus Ministry).”
Bella is the daughter of Jillian and Marc Curcuru.
Her title as the current Music Festival Queen will end as the 2026 Queen will be crowned at a program on Friday, June 19, in City Park, but the memories of her experiences as reigning queen will last a lifetime.
Miss Curcuru reigned over the Music Festival activities during Father’s Day weekend last June, including the parade on Father’s Day, and she recalled, “I was involved with a lot over that weekend, from being in the parade to helping out with the tractor pull and doing Jazzercise on the stage in City Park. I personally enjoyed the entire weekend; I was able to talk to countless people and help out wherever I wanted to.”
When asked about the excitement on the night she was crowned 2025 Geneseo Music Festival Queen,” she answered, “The night I was crowned I was super shocked. I had only joined the competition because I thought it would be fun, I had very little confidence that I would actually win!”
For the evening gown competition of the pageant, Miss Curcuru chose to wear a floor-length purple gown accented with flowers that “sparkled.”
She said she entered the pageant “because I’ve always wanted to be in a pageant, and it was the perfect opportunity. I also wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something I’ve never done before! And the pageant was something I had watched at the music festival for as long as I can remember.”
Another question asked to Miss Curcuru was to share something she might say to senior girls in high school who may be considering being in the Music Festival Pageant, and she replied, “I would encourage them to definitely enter the pageant! It is the perfect first pageant for girls who want to try something new, but it is also a really fun time with the other senior girls for one last ‘go’ together!”
“I vividly remember how the little girls looked at me and called me a princess throughout the entire weekend, it was adorable,” she added.