The tenth edition of the Reinado Internacional del Café took place on 12 January 1979 in Manizales, Colombia, with 11 contestants from coffee-producing and exporting countries. At the end of the event, Maria de los Angeles González of Puerto Rico (Reina Internacional del Café 1976) crowned her successor, Paulina Leighton Palacios of Chile, as Reina Internacional del Café 1979.