The deep Southern state of Georgia has many opportunities to win as skills contests and traditional sweepstakes. Before we get to the list of chances, here are a few trivia tidbits about the state:

• It's nickname is The Peach State. It's also known as the Empire State of the South.


• St. Marys, Georgia, is the second oldest city in the nation.
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• The state was named for King George II of England.


• The Georgia-Florida border is home to one of the largest swamps in the world—Okefenokee—which spans 438,000 acres.

Arts and Crafts:Enter your own crafts in a contest or find giveaways at arts and crafts festivals in the state. Find local events at FestivalNet.com, artscraftsshowbusiness.com, N Georgia (n-georgia.com/arts-crafts-events.html) and the stage page at Southern Festivals (southfest.com/georgia.shtml).

Beauty Pageants:Georgia beauties can enter pageants for prizes and prestige. Here are a few events throughout the state and region:

• Southern Grace (sgpageants.com/Pageants.html)


• PageantCenter.com (visit the Georgia page)


• BrittanysBeauties.com


• MissGeorgiaGirl.com


• SunburstBeauty.com

Media:Media stations in Georgia list regional contests including WSB-TV Atlanta (wsbtv.com), News radio 95.5, AM 750 WSB (wsbradio.com/s/contests) and MyFoxAtlanta.com

Outdoors: The Georgia Department of Natural Resources website has information about the annual poster contest. Just visit, georgiawildlife.org and search for contests.

Travel:The official Georgia Tourism and Travel site has updated listings of state contests at exploregeorgia.org/contests.

Good luck!

For those interested in traveling Georgia, consider the following titles to help you plan your trip:
Carolinas Georgia & the South Trips (Regional Travel Guide)
Day Trips from Atlanta: Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler (Day Trips Series)