The theme of the night was 'Rindercella' and many audience members dressed accordingly.

There were princesses and pumpkins, elves and witches and queens by the bucketload.

The event raised about $7000, all of which will be donated to Lightning Ridge Preschool.

Each year the preschool needs to raise $15,000 to keep its doors open and this year they are well on track to reach their target.

The two judges, tourists from Tweed Heads, were highly impressed - though at times a little bemused - by the performances.

One of them, Bill Morrissey, has been coming to the Ridge for a number of years, but this was his first Potch Queen.

"This is a side to the town I've never seen before," he said after the event.

The Potch Queen has been running now for close to 30 years and is still going strong. One of the organisers, Dianne Holz, said the event was a huge success.

"I feel really good about how it all worked out," Dianne said.

"There were a few hairy bits, but that's Potch Queen and that's what people come to see."

Two of the entrants, Brett and Simon were extremely late additions, taking their place in the line-up just 15 minutes before the event began.

The event wouldn't have been possible without the help of a virtual army of volunteers who helped bring everything together.

"I just can't say thank you enough, to everybody who was involved," said Dianne, before adding a disclaimer:

"The committee would like to advise that if anybody has any complaints about any stuff-ups which occurred on the night, don't bother because all the people responsible have been sacked."