Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach (center) waves to the crowd as she leads the Miss Universe candidates during its Kick Off Event at the Conrad Manila in Pasay City on Saturday night. (Jay Ganzon)

One of the big events for the country this year is hosting the 65th Miss Universe which will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena on January 30, 2017.

This much anticipated event has been the talk of the town ever since the “thumbs up” for the venue has been approved and released to the public.

It will be during the 65th Miss Universe that Pia Wurtzbach, the reigning Miss Universe, will then crown her successor to claim the title of the next Miss Universe for 2017.

And to start off the excitement before the actual event, the Department of Tourism (DoT) here in the Philippines has released the tentative schedule of the events. The Secretary of DoT, Wanda Teo, has stated and clarified that although a schedule has already been released; this is only tentative and may be subject to change. There will still be some finalizations that would be done for the activities.

65th Miss Universe Schedule of Events*

• Jan 12-13: Arrivals, Fittings and Registration
• Jan 14: Welcome Event
• Jan 15: Visit to Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
• Jan 16: Governors’ Ball, SMX Convention Center, Manila
• Jan 17: Swimsuit Show, Jpark Island Resort and Waterpark, Cebu
• Jan 18-19: (In separate groups) Location filming and events in Albay, Baguio City, Batangas, Davao City
• Jan 20: Return to Manila
• Jan 21: Fashion Show, SMX Convention Center
• Jan 22: Women Empowerment Night, SMX Convention Center
• Jan 23: Visit to Malacanang Palace for courtesy call with President Duterte
  National Gift Auction, Conrad Hotel
• Jan 24: National Costume Competition, World Trade Center
• Jan 25-26: Preliminary Interviews, Rehearsals
• Jan 27: 65th Miss Universe Presentation Show, Mall of Asia Arena (to be confirmed)
• Jan 28: On-Stage Rehearsals
• Jan 29: On-Stage Rehearsals
  Dress Rehearsal, Mall of Asia Arena, 7-10 pm (to be confirmed)
• Jan 30: 65th Miss Universe Live Telecast, Mall of Asia Arena, 8:00 am (Jan 29 at 7 pm EST)
  Coronation Gala, 8:00 pm
• Jan 31: Departures

*Schedule subject to change
If you’re already planning to buy tickets for the Final Gala Event, they are currently being sold through SM supermalls. But for the other activities such as the, Presentation Show, Dress Rehearsal, National Costume Competition and Coronation Gala, tickets are not currently being sold yet to the general public. There will be updates regarding this soon.
Of course, the next question of most people would be “Who will host this year’s pageant?” Well, there has already been a confirmation from Steve Harvey and Ashley Graham that they will be the official hosts during the live telecast on FOX network.

Regarding on the judges of the pageant, word in social media has been floating around that Miss Universe 1993, Dayanara Torres, would be included in the panel of the final judges but this has yet to be confirmed.

In two weeks’ time, 1 out of 87 beauties from different parts of the globe would be crowned the next Miss Universe here in the Philippines.