Toronto, Aug 6 (IANS): Bollywood's dimpled actress Preity Zinta will be the guest of honour at this year's Miss India-Canada pageant here on August 15.

This year marks the silver jubilee of the beauty pageant, which will be presented by Chevrolet in association with Air Canada.

Preity will crown the new Miss India-Canada.

The 16 finalists, who have been shortlisted from among the large number of Indo-Canadian girls from Canada, will vie for the beauty crown and numerous awards and prizes.

A blend of Indian and Canadian cultures, the beauty pageant judges the contestants on the basis of their performances in dance, evening gown, quizzing and public speaking.

The lucky ones in the audience will also win two round-trip tickets to India on Air Canada 787 Dreamliner as a gift to mark the 25 years of the beauty pageant.

People can vote for their favourite delegate for the Air Canada People's Choice Award till August 14. The winner of the 'People's Choice Award' will be announced at the pageant.

Started by the late Punjabi businessman Kush Agnihotri and now run by his son Sanjay Agnihotri, the Miss India-Canada pageant is the biggest and oldest Indian beauty show in North America.

Some of the past winners of the Miss India-Canada pageant such as Kamal Sidhu (1991), Ruby Bhatia (1993), Gita Bali (1994), Rishma Malik (1996), Komila Jagtiani (1999), and Neelam Verma (2001) went on to become actresses, models, television stars and show hosts.

Many top-notch Bollywood stars, including Dev Anand, Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon and Aftab Shivdasani, have been chief guests at the beauty contest in the past.