Local miner Karen Bruce was crowned 2003 Opal Queen in front of a packed house at the bowling club on Saturday night.
Seven contestants presented themselves to ACT Racing judges and the audience to impress them in the hope of becoming an ambassador for Lightning Ridge.
Karen will now represent the Ridge at the upcoming Black Opal Stakes race meeting to be held in Canberra next March.
Karen who has lived in the Ridge for more than 18 months said it was the first time she had entered the prestigious competition.
She said she wanted to be part of it to foster community spirit.
"I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to give opal more recognition within the Australian market.
"I didn't think I was going to win, because I didn't really know what was even happening at the time, the whole event went before my eyes pretty quickly."
As an entrant Karen said she had to talk to the three ACT judges who wanted to know how long she had lived in the Ridge and what her thoughts were of the people and on opal.
"I said I felt it was nice to live in a small town because there is a strong community support system here."
But Karen said she wasn't really nervous at all even though it was her first time in the Opal Queen.
"I found it really easy to talk to the judges, and I had done the catwalk thing before, so it wasn't that new for me."
Karen said as Lightning Ridge's ambassador at the Black Opal Stakes she was hoping to bring along a photo board on mining and opal to be displayed at the Canberra club for the meeting.
"I'm hoping we'll (miners) be able to tap into the domestic market because that hasn't been fully utilised yet."
Karen said at the Black Opal Stakes in her role as Opal Queen 2003 she would have to give an opening speech, place ribbons on the winning horses and meet and greet the jockeys.
"I hope to give opal a big push," she said.
Meanwhile, Opal Jewellery Design Awards Association (OJDAA) events co-ordinator Angela Myers said congratulations went to Karen.
"Karen looked stunning and amazed judges with her first hand experiences of opal mining.
"She has been actively involved in mining during the past few years.
"Second place was awarded to Joanne Howlett and Dianne French was placed third.
"All entries looked absolutely stunning and congratulations to other contestants Michelle Gordon, Rachelle Rowe, Yanika Lindquist and Madelynne Chua.
"It was a fantastic night and we thank you all for making the night such a success."
Ms Myers said the OJDAA had taken on the role of organising the entire Opal Festival and events surrounding it this year to give the Opal Festival Committee a 12-month break.
The Opal Queen which has been running for 33 years attracted 200 people in the bowling club's auditorium, which Ms Myers said was more than last year.
"We had a sell-out crowd, which I think can be attributed to the way we promoted the Opal Queen together with the awards.
"There are new people involved in organising the events this year, which I think has also helped to pull in a different crowd."
Ms Myers said the Opal Queen attracted about the same number of entrants this year, even though some had withdrawn at short notice.
"We had three contestants pull out at the last minute, which was unfortunate but it was still a fantastic night."
Ms Myers said most of the contestants were fairly nervous about what the judges would ask them, but were able to impress them by the depth of character they displayed.
She said the OJDAA had also tried to move the focus of the competition from being judged on the dress or attire to one of community contribution.
"Previously the girls were judged more on their presentation and grooming, but I wanted to change the emphasis to what the person had done for the town, the opal industry, community events and charity," she said.
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