Cosplay Contest
Meet Our Hosts and Judges
A native of Portland, Momma Sammu was raised attending fantasy and sci-fi cons, but didn't start cosplaying until their first Kumoricon in 2006 and has been hooked ever since. Now with over a decade of sewing and performance experience, they've earned over a dozen Master-level awards at conventions across the country and abroad. Sammu's specialties include corsetry, ballgowns, and making anything they do as extra as possible. When not at conventions, they enjoy sharing their knowledge and encouraging other cosplayers to pursue their passion projects.
Being an active Twitch streamer and making many of their cosplays for a live audience has allowed them to connect with others outside of conventions and create not only a space to share new skills, but a safe space for anyone who needs it.
Jester photo by KP11 Studios.
When 5 strangers in spandex met for cosplay chess, their lives changed forever. That was the beginning of the Sakura Rangers. A miscommunication had brought the Power Rangers cosplayers together. And despite being from different parts of the world, the five had two very strong things in common: A love of conventions and a dream of keeping the culture of them positive. This led to the creation of the Sakura Rangers podcast, where every week they focus on conventions, cosplay, and nerdom in general. As the years went on the group grew larger with personalities like Makenaicosplay, Megamchughx, One Spoon Cosplay, and Kaiju_Qt sharing their goal and wanting to entertain. But with the addition of Cosplaimee, the group added new projects to their list, the most notable being the Cosplay Contest. The group now features a rotating cast of 12 members. Collectively they’ve hosted 4 seasons of their podcast, won 6 convention contests, hosted 10 panels, and participated in over 100 conventions. Today, as it was so many years ago, their goal remains the same: to entertain, enlighten, and help make the convention community a better place.
Cosplay Contest
Whether you prefer competing as a contestant on stage or viewing the skits and costumes from the audience, the Cosplay Contest is Kumoricon's main costume event where entrants compete for recognition and top prizes. Join in the fun yourself, or cheer on your favorite characters as they perform original skits and dazzle the audience with amazing costumes.
All entries are due by October 15, 2021, at 11:59pm. The form will close at this time and late submissions will not be accepted. The entry form is available on this page, below the rules.
If you have any questions, please email cosplay@kumoricon.org.
Eligibility
- All participants must read and agree to follow all rules of the Cosplay Contest.
- Costumes previously entered in a Kumoricon Cosplay Contest are ineligible.
- By registering for the Cosplay Contest, all participants agree to allow Kumoricon to use their images for promotional purposes, both photographs and video—both those submitted in the entry, and those taken by us. Photographs of winning entries may be shown at the Kumoricon Closing Ceremonies.
- All convention policies must be upheld during the entirety of the Cosplay Contest. Anyone breaking Kumoricon rules will be disqualified and reported to Operations or Yojimbo.
- Kumoricon general staff may enter the Cosplay Contest as long as staff-related responsibilities are fulfilled.
- Board members may not compete in the Cosplay Contest.
Contests
This year we are running two separate Cosplay Contests.
- Costume Construction Review
- Traditional Costume Construction judging at Kumoricon.
- Skit Contest
- Skit contest at Kumoricon.
How to Enter
- Entries are now open. To sign up, fill out the Cosplay Contest Entry Form on this page, below these rules.
- The deadline for entry forms received online is October 15, 2021, at 11:59pm.
- The total number of entries that will be allowed this year will be 30 skits and 30 cosplay portfolios.
- All entries are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. If all entry slots are full, there will be a waiting list for additional entrants who may be called in if anyone drops out or is disqualified.
- Entrants must attend and be present on-time at the following events:
- All participants must attend the Technical Rehearsal at their assigned time.
- Skit entrants are also required to attend the Pre-Meeting.
- Costume Construction entrants must attend their assigned judging time.
- Entrants who miss any of their assignments will be disqualified. See the schedule for times and locations of required events. Please see the official Kumoricon schedule (once released) for times and locations of required Cosplay Contest meetings and activities.
General Information
- Kumoricon is an all-ages-friendly event. Content should not go beyond mild PG.
- Offensive language of any kind is not allowed—no racial or sexual epithets; no profanity, etc.
- No excessive violence.
- No sexual activity or contact—real or implied.
- All sexual jokes must have a non-sexual interpretation that is at least as obvious as the sexual one.
- No nudity—all costumes must adhere to the official Kumoricon code of conduct.
- No characters from adults-only source material or hentai will be allowed.
- Be clever, not crass! If you think your costume or presentation might be too risqué or offensive, it probably is.
- If you have a question about your content, please feel free to ask the Cosplay Staff if it is allowable.
- You may surprise the audience, but never surprise the crew.
- No fire, flame, smoke, fog, dry ice, wind machines, lasers, pressurized gases or liquids.
- No messy substances—wet, dry, or oily—in the green room or on stage.
- No jumping on or off stage—please use the officially designated stage entrances and exits.
- Any props/scenic elements that are larger than handheld need to be submitted to the Cosplay Contest for approval. (Please contact us at cosplay@kumoricon.org.)
- Entrants must abide by the convention weapons policies. Pointing weapons at anyone not in your cosplay group will not be tolerated. The Cosplay Coordinator must approve any actions involving weapons.
- Contestants may not use stage time to make political, religious, insulting, or other demonstrations not related to their entry.
- Contestants who violate any of our performance rules may have their performance stopped and may be disqualified.
- If for whatever reason one contestant is removed from competition for any violation the entire group may be disqualified as well depending on the situation.
- Decisions made by the Coordinator(s) may only be challenged if brought to the Director of Programming.
- You must have some kind of foot covering. Shoes or boots are required. Be aware of safety concerns. If your character does not wear shoes the lack of accuracy will be forgiven; consider flesh-toned or clear shoes.
Judging
"Skit" and "Costume Construction" judging are entirely separate. There is a judging panel for Skit and a judging panel for Costume Construction. Each panel selects and grants its own awards. Costume Construction judging is not required for Skit entries, and the decisions and deliberations of the Costume Construction judging panel have no influence on the Skit judging panel, and vice versa.
- Entrants may enter in both Skit and Costume Construction contests.
- Best of Show requires both Costume Construction judging and Skit performance.
The judges are free to give as many or as few awards as they choose.
Skit
- Skits will be judged based on the performance of the whole group.
- Skit awards are granted to the entries that have shown excellent presentation.
- Costumes entered in the Skit judging do not have to be self-made.
- Pre-recorded music and dialogue are required.
- File uploads are preferred.
- Alternately, you may deliver your file by USB thumb drive.
- For this method, please include your person/group name and skit title in the filename.
- One track is preferred; we cannot change tracks or start in the middle of a track.
- We can accept MP3, M4A, and other common file types. We strongly prefer 128kbps or higher.
- Recorded music and dialogue must be clear to hear.
- Bring backup copies of your audio on USB thumb drive to ensure it's not lost. Kumoricon is not responsible for damage to or loss of your media device.
- We will not play or rip music off of portable MP3 players, such as iPods or cell phones, or from YouTube.
- Leave the stage as clean as it was when you set foot on it. Arrange to remove all items you brought on stage at the end of your presentation. If you have a particularly intricate presentation, we recommend you recruit your own stage ninjas.
- No entry may be a repeat of an entry from any previous competition at Kumoricon.
- Don't plan for complex lighting. The default lighting cue is: lights go up, music starts, you come on at stage right, you leave on stage left, music stops, lights go down. If you desire anything other than default lighting or music cues, discuss it with the Cosplay Coordinator before the convention.
Costume Construction
- The Costume Construction awards are based on the following factors:
- Adaptation:
- Representation of your costume to the character design.
- Skill in scale and body fit adaptation.
- Resemblance to character shown in documentation.
- Overall Construction:
- Use of materials, construction methods, and durability.
- Use of appropriate or innovative methods and applications.
- Extra points may be awarded at the judges' discretion for construction done above and beyond the normal effort expected for a costume.
- Adaptation:
- All costumes from all genres and media are accepted for Kumoricon’s Cosplay Contest review, including original designs as a separate category.
- One costume will be allowed per entrant.
- Reference pictures will be required. This includes screen captures, posters, or any other official media that reveals the character's full costume. The pictures should reveal different views of the character (i.e. front, back, sides). Do not assume judges know your costume or character! You will be required to submit reference pictures when entering.
- Commissioned, purchased, rented, or commercially made costumes will not be allowed to enter the Costume Construction contest. A portion of the costume (such as a leotard, tights, and shoes) may be from purchased finished goods, but at least 60% of the costume should have been constructed by the creator of the costume. More is expected if you are entering at Journeyman or Master.
- If you have made heavy alterations to a store-bought garment and wish to enter it into the contest, you must be able to explain how you have altered it and the processes that such an endeavor entailed. Unaltered store-bought assemblies of clothing to represent a "costume" are not allowed.
- Costumes worn for any previous competition at Kumoricon are ineligible.
Skill Levels
To ensure that entrants with limited experience compete with their peers and not against more experienced entrants, skill levels have been established. The judges will assess entries of higher skill levels using stricter criteria.
- These rankings apply to the costume maker, not the wearer as they are for construction, not presentation.
- Group entries will be judged at the highest division amongst your members.
- A group should compete in the skill division of the group's most experienced member. If in a group and all participants are Novice, but one participant is Master, the group must compete in the Master Division (as no one may compete in a Division lower than their own). You cannot compete lower than any Division award you have won.
Master
- The Master category is intended for skilled cosplayers with extensive cosplay experience and several awards.
- Those competing in the Master Costume Construction category must submit a portfolio showcasing the progress of their costume and a minimum of three previous costumes.
- Professional actors and actresses or groups who perform outside the convention circuit are required to compete at this level for presentations. Professional costumers, tailors, pattern-makers, seamstresses, or people who take commissions for creating costumes or other clothing are required to compete at this level for Construction.
- Anyone who has won two or more awards as a Journeyman, or
- An individual who has achieved "Master" status at any other major convention, or
- Anyone who chooses to compete in this division may do so.
Journeyman
- The Journeyman category is intended for people with some cosplay experience and/or some awards.
- Those competing in the Journeyman Costume Construction category must submit a portfolio showcasing the progress of their costume.
- Has won fewer than two awards as a Journeyman, or
- Has won at least two awards in the Novice category, or
- Anyone who is not required to compete as a Master and who chooses to compete in this division.
Novice
- The Novice category is intended for people with virtually no cosplay experience or cosplayers with little to no prior experience competing.
- First-time performers and/or costumers fit here.
- Any group with at least one member who is old enough to not qualify for the Youth division, or a Youth group that prefers to compete in the Novice division.
- Anyone who has never won an award in a cosplay competition at any convention.
Youth
- All members of the group are under the age of 14 on the day of the Cosplay Contest.
- For Costume Construction: Contestants under the age of 14 on the day of the competition who have created at least 50% of their costume on their own (if an adult created the costume, the costume is entered under the adult's skill level).
- Note: For Skit, parents used as "props" for small children do not bump children into an adult class.
Original Design
- Original Design will be treated as a separate competition. Contestants in this division will not be competing against the other divisions and are ineligible for Best of Show.
- Costumes that are considered original design are as follows: gijinkas, genderbends, characters with no published artwork, fan art designs, original video game characters, etc.
- Original Designs will be judged solely based on construction.
- Original Design contestants must submit a portfolio of all reference/inspiration material and progress photos.
Please note that any entry may be reclassified by the coordinators or judges if they feel it is appropriate.
