2010 Cosplay

The Contest:

The MechaCon Cosplay/Masquerade is the convention's definitive costume competition where groups or individuals show off their costumes and acting abilities, plus compete for prizes. Cosplay/Masquerade is open to both amateur and professional costumers. The MechaCon Cosplay/Masquerade will be divided into two events: The Skit/Presentations portion and then the Model Runway Judging for Craftsmanship.

The MechaCon Cosplay Ten Commandments:

1. Participants must submit all registration forms and materials (waivers, C.D.s, etc.) to the cosplay desk on the convention floor, in order to participate in the Cosplay Competition. Materials must be turned in on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the Con, preceding the competition. Minors must have parent's permission and a parent's signature on the waiver. (*Please Note: the Cosplay forms will be available online soon so you can fill them out and have them ready to turn in. We are no longer accepting mail-in Cosplay entry forms.)

2. You can only participate in either the walk-on category or the skit category. You cannot do both.

3. Walk-ons will be 35 seconds, and skits will have up to 3 minutes. Skits are allowed to bring an audio C.D. or pre-recording of the skit. Please make sure you have a back-up copy. Walk-ons will be competing to the music of our choice.

4. In order for you to qualify for craftsmanship judging, you must have made at least 50% of your costume. Store bought costumes will be allowed to participate as a walk-on or skit, they just cannot be entered into the craftsmanship category.

5. Costumes should be self-contained. (i.e. your costume cannot be socketed or have any wire or electrical hook-ups.) If your costume has any excessive or flashing lights, you must inform us by making a note of it to the Cosplay Staff so that the appropriate warning can be issued to the audience in case of any medical issues that may be caused by the flashing lights.

6. All weapons should follow the Mechacon Weapons Policy and mandates which can be found here.

7. Only 100 total entries will be accepted (please note that skits count as one entry, regardless of the number of participants in your skit). On Thursday and Friday, we will be accepting up to 5 skit and 25 walk-on entries. Saturday, we will be accepting 10 skit and 30 walk-on entries. Please make sure you turn in your entries A.S.A.P. because once the slots are filled, we cannot accept anymore entries.

8. Cosplay = costume + play. Your costume may be from any genre', book, anime / manga, video game, or Japanese culture.

9. No excessive sexual themes, violence, or nudity will be tolerated on stage. We have a strict PG 14 rating. All skits need to be pre-approved by a member of the cosplay staff. Please present a copy of your script with your registration form at the Cosplay Desk. The violation of these rules will not be tolerated and you will be disqualified, and possibly have your convention badge revoked. All of the preceding rules include cross-play!

10. Once you have signed up and are ready to compete, you must attend the Cosplay Pre-Meeting before the actual competition. You will be given a time and a map with instructions to the Pre-Meeting when you register for Cosplay. Please be aware that food and drink are not permitted during the Pre-Meeting or backstage during cosplay. If you need to eat or drink, please plan to do so before the Cosplay Pre-Meeting. Parents of minors MUST accompany their children at rehearsal and backstage. Rest assured parents, we place everyone's safety and well being above all else. If you do not show up for the pre-meeting, you will be disqualified.


For questions about cosplay, please direct your questions to cosplay@mechacon.net.

All rules for the MechaCon Cosplay/Masquerade are subject to change without notice. While we will attempt to keep you abreast of any changes via the MechaCon website, these changes may occur at anytime.

More Cosplay Contest info will be posted soon. Please check back for updates!