Cosplay Contest and Skits
How to Register for the Cosplay Contest, Cosplay Show-off, or Skits:
Cosplay Events
AFW offers the following cosplay events:
- Iron Cosplay Competition: teams of 4 compete to craft a cosplay with provided supplies in a 45-minute timeframe
- Craftsmanship Cosplay Contest: single or group cosplayers compete for cosplay awards based on pre-judged craftsmanship and stage presence
- Cosplay Showcase: ANY cosplayer can walk the stage and strut their stuff, without any judging, entries are selected at random for prizes
- Cosplay Talent Show: performances by cosplayers and judges select winners based on said performances
- Hall Cosplay: cosplayers collect Hall Cosplay tickets from congoers during the convention weekend
Contestants may sign up for all cosplay events through EventBrite.
If you sign-up online, please check-in at the Cosplay Registration Table to confirm your entry. Failure to check-in before cosplay events may result in a contestant(s) being unable to participate in this year’s events. The Cosplay Registration Table will be open on Friday from 4:30pm-7:00pm and Saturday from 10:00am-12:00pm for sign-ups and check-in, as well as Sunday from 11:00am-1:00pm for Cosplay Showcase entries and Hall Cosplay contestants.
Eligibility
All cosplay events are open to all paid attendees of AFW. However, we have limited time/space so please register early. All types of cosplay are allowed and encouraged.
important things
Please remember this is a family friendly event. Your cosplay must be street-legal, and refrain from using bad language, rude gestures, or any racist, sexist, political, or demeaning remarks. Keep it clean and fun for everyone!
Cosplay Contest entries are limited to approximately 30 seconds of stage time. Please plan out poses and stances in your costume(s) before going on stage. You must stay onstage throughout your presentation. Please do not go out into the audience, hang over the stage side or even approach the stage side or stairs until leaving the stage at which time you will be directed where to go
All realistic-looking firearms must have government safety orange visible. No real firearms are allowed on premises, also no metal weaponry. No harmful or potentially destructive materials or substances are allowed, including but not limited to fire-based effects (open flames, explosives, flash paper) silly string, paint, tobacco, powder, goo spraying out of dead daemon’s neck, no live animals, confetti, props that break into more than four pieces. During cosplay nothing should hit the floor.
State law, Hotel rules and AFW’s general rules supersede cosplay rules. Please be respectful of the convention space and be mindful of others.
By entering any cosplay event at AFW you are consenting to photo/video being taken of you during your participation of these events by any photographer/videographer present at these events.
The Cosplay Coordinator and AFW staff retains the authority to remove anyone from the Iron Cosplay Competition, Craftsmanship Cosplay Contest, Cosplay Skit and Dance Contest, Cosplay Showcase, or Hall Cosplay at any time for any reason seen fit. There will be no appeal.
Iron Cosplay Competition
The Iron Cosplay Competition will be held on the Main Stage at 7:30-9:30pm on Friday.
There is limited space for 5 teams, each with up to 4 competitors per team. Teams can sign up at the Cosplay Registration Table from 4:30-7:00pm on Friday of AFW. Every team member must be present when signing up.
Iron Cosplay competitors must be willing to craft on the floor (without a table or chair).
Iron Cosplay Competition Prizes: some nifty handmade trophies and bragging rights for the rest of the con!
Craftsmanship Cosplay Contest
The Craftsmanship Cosplay Contest will be on Saturday at 5:30pm on the Main Stage. Entries will be expected to be in the Panel Room 7 at 5:00pm to prepare for the stage show.
There will be a maximum of 50 entries for the Craftsmanship Cosplay Contest. If this capacity is reached before 12:00pm on Saturday, registration for this contest will close.
- All contestants must be 13 years of age or older.
- Cosplays may be sourced from any material such as anime, video games, comics, movies/TV shows, etc. This also includes OCs, fanart, etc.
- All entries MUST bring reference and progress photos of crafting of the cosplay. These photos must be printed, not digital.
- Cosplays may be modeled by someone other than its crafter. The crafter must be present during pre-judging, and if awarded, the crafter and model will both be listed as winners.
- Cosplays must be at least 60% hand-crafted. This means that store-bought items of the cosplay must not be more than 40% of the cosplay. Altering items significantly after purchasing will count toward the hand-crafted percentage of the cosplay.
- No cosplay may be entered if said cosplay has already been awarded a major award at another cosplay contest of any kind, including in-person and online competitions. “Major award” is defined here as any “Best” or “1st Place” award (runner-up, 2nd place, judge’s choice awards are permitted).
- To compete in the Craftsmanship Cosplay Contest, you must be able to walk a flight of stairs unimpaired in your cosplay and go through standard-sized doorways (at least sideways).
- If you feel your cosplay is a special case, or have a question, email the cosplay coordinator at badashcos@gmail.com.
Beginner – Contestants that have either never won an award or have won only 1 award at any cosplay/costume contest.
Advanced – Contestants that have competed and won 2+ awards of any kind at any cosplay/costume contest or has professional experience/has an income from their cosplay-related work. Beginner entries may choose to enter in the Advanced category if they wish to.
All contestants must participate in pre-judging.
- Beginner entries will have 3 minutes and Advanced entries will have 5 minutes to present their cosplay to the judges. Group entries will get 1 additional minute for their pre-judging time for each additional member.
- Pre-judging will be on Saturday; time slots will be assigned at the Cosplay Registration table when you check-in. If you miss check-in, come to the pre-judging room and a later time will be assigned to you.
- Pre-judging is NOT the time to be “in-character.” Please keep your pre-judging discussion strictly to how your cosplay was crafted.
Our panel of esteemed judges will be basing their selections on the following criteria:
- Craftsmanship Quality (50% of score) – how well the crafter utilized crafting materials and techniques to make the cosplay. This also considers the difficulty of the crafting technique and materials used.
- Character Likeness (25% of score)– how well the crafter made the cosplay resemble the character reference photos provided. This judging criterion will be based upon garments and props, NOT race, height, body shape, gender identification, religious garb, mobility devices, or health related devices.
- Stage Presence (25% of score) – how the cosplayer presents their character on stage through posing, facial expressions, and movement. Wearing a mask on stage will not negatively affect this score.
- Cosplay Contest entries are limited to approximately 30 seconds of stage time.
- You must stay on stage throughout your presentation. Please do not go out into the audience, throw anything off or leaving anything on the stage, hang over the stage edge or even approach the stage edge or stairs until leaving the stage.
- You will not be allowed to use the microphone or speak while on stage.
- Please do not surprise cosplay staff or judges on stage; if you have a special performance in mind, please discuss this with the cosplay coordinator when checking-in for the contest.
- Judge’s Choice Awards from each judge
- Best Prop
- Best Stage Presence
- Best Innovation in Crafting
- Best Crafting Detail
- 2nd Place Beginner
- 1st Place Beginner
- 2nd Place Advanced
- 1st Place Advanced
- Best in Show
Awards will be announced at the beginning of the dance on Saturday at 9:30pm.
Cosplay Showcase
The Cosplay Showcase will be from 2:30pm-4:00pm on the Main Stage, in conjunction with the Cosplay Talent Show. All entries must report to Panel Room 7 no later than 2:00pm on Sunday to prepare for the stage show.
The Cosplay Showcase is not a judged cosplay contest, rather it is a time for any cosplayer to take the stage and show off their cosplay. AFW staff draw names from the pool of entries for this Showcase and awards prizes randomly. These prizes will be awarded at Closing Ceremonies on Sunday (if you are not able to attend, you will be contacted via your contact information given to cosplay staff when you signed-up).
Cosplay Talent Show
The Cosplay Talent Show will be from 2:30pm-4:00pm on the Main Stage, in conjunction with the Cosplay Showcase. All entries must report to Panel Room 7 no later than 2:00pm on Sunday to prepare for the stage show.
- Entries may have up to 9 members.
- Performances cannot exceed 5 minutes.
- Your entry must be a talent performed while in cosplay. This talent could be, but is not limited to, musical performances, singing, acting, dancing, etc. Talents range from a wide variety of things, so come show us your hidden talent!
- All items must be brought on and taken off the stage by the contestants.
- Pre-recorded audio and any music needs to be given to the cosplay coordinator no later than 12:00pm on Saturday of the con. This audio may be emailed to the cosplay coordinator at badashcos@gmail.com or provided on a flash drive at the Cosplay Registration Table.
- All performances must be approved by the Cosplay Coordinator at rehearsal. All entries must report for rehearsal from 10:00am-11:00am on Sunday in Panel Room 7.
Judges will watch each performance and select a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place performance to receive awards. These awards will be presented at Closing Ceremonies (if you are not able to attend you will be contacted via your contact information given to cosplay staff when you signed-up).
You must stay on stage throughout your presentation, and your cosplays/props must stay on stage as well. Please no acrobatics or jumping on/off the stage. If two or more people are on the stage fighting, please rehearse it before the convention and perform at 1/2 speed.
Please do not surprise cosplay staff or judges on stage; if you have a special performance in mind, please discuss this with the cosplay coordinator when checking-in for the contest.
Hall Cosplay
All ticketed AFW attendees will get 2 Hallway Cosplay tickets that they will give away to their favorite cosplayers throughout the con weekend. At Closing Ceremonies, a prize will be given to the cosplayer that collects the most tickets (if you are not able to attend, you will be contacted via your contact information given to cosplay staff when you signed-up).
Cosplayers can turn in their tickets to be counted at the Cosplay Registration Table on Friday from 4:30pm-7:00pm, Saturday from 10:00am-12:00pm, and Sunday 11am-1:00pm.