Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega of Colombia. (Associated Press)
Carnival has come a few weeks early to the Caribbean city of Barranquilla where residents took to the streets on Monday to show their hometown pride after local beauty queen Paulina Vega was crowned Miss Universe.
Even President Juan Manuel Santos took time out during an official visit to France to congratulate Vega for her "historic" title on Sunday night in Miami, where the 22-year-old business administration student beat out finalists from the US, Jamaica, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
"This demonstrates that in Colombia we have women who are intelligent, hard-working and perseverant in the face of obstacles," Mr Santos said. "They're also very pretty."
Colombians are obsessed with beauty and pageants are a major draw across social classes. But unlike neighboring Venezuela, which has won seven Miss Universe titles, Colombians are accustomed to falling short of the crown, with four runner-up appearances since 1992.
The only other Colombian Miss Universe is 76-year-old Luz Marina Zuluaga, who won the title in 1958. She told The Associated Press that Vega's honor is long overdue.
"Like everyone else I'm very happy that a Colombian has finally won," said Ms Zuluaga, recalling how much the pageant had changed in the five decades since she was crowned.
Vega's hometown, the port city of Barranquilla, erupted in traditional cumbia music and dance as Colombian media descended on the city on Monday in search of relatives and friends of Vega. The city of more than 1.4 million is known for hosting South America's most-raucous Carnival after Rio de Janeiro every February.
It's also the birthplace of two other globally distinguished beauties: singer Shakira and actress Sofia Vergara. Both took to Twitter in demonstrate their hometown pride over Vega's title with their more than 35 million combined followers.
Pageants and performance run in Vega's family. Her grandmother, Elvira Castillo, was Miss Atlantico 1953 (Colombia) and her grandfather is legendary tenor Gaston Vega.