Masquerade Competition

Nekocon Masquerade Competition

Masquerade Info and Rules

We’re glad you’re interested in participating in the NekoCon Masquerade Cosplay Competition! Here you’ll find important information like what to expect and rules for the contest.

What can I expect when I sign up for NekoCon’s Masquerade?

Friendly and helpful staff, of course! The basics: our staff will help you through signing up, craftsmanship judging (if you wish to have your costume evaluated by our panel of experts!), and coordinating both the Full Dress Rehearsal on Saturday morning and the program itself on Saturday evening.

What are the awards?

Awards will be given for the following:

Best Craftsmanship and Performance in each level (Youth, Novice, Journeyman, and Master)
Overall Best Craftsmanship
Overall Best Performance
Best in Show

Judges and Cosplay Staff may wish to add their own special notes for outstanding entrants.

What category am I in?

Here are the descriptions of our categories:

Youth – Any entrant aged 13 years and younger. For safety reasons, children under the age of 8 cannot be allowed on the stage during the Cosplay for any reason, unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Entrants between the ages of 8 and 13 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian backstage who has a valid NekoCon admission badge.

Novice – Any costumer(s) who has won 2 or fewer awards. This is the category you select if you have never cosplayed before, or have not won any contests.

Journeyman – Any costumer(s) who has won 3 – 5 awards.

Master – Any costumer(s) who has won 6 or more awards.

If you have a group, determine who has the highest skill level and use that when registering.

Example 1: You have a group of 4 Novices and 1 Journeyman. You will be entered at Journeyman level.

Example 2: You have 3 Masters and one Novice in your group. You will be entered at Master level.

There’s a Dress Rehearsal? How much of a commitment am I going to have to make?!

Here are the commitments you need to make in order to do the cosplay competition:

Signing up! This is a short process you can do online or on-site. Spots are limited, so we encourage signing up online. (More info below.)
If you wish to have your costumes judged for their craftsmanship, you must show up to your assigned craftsmanship judging time. This will be a commitment of approximately 20 minutes total. (Information on costumes eligible for craftsmanship, and judging rules below.)
Showing up for your assigned Full Dress Rehearsal time. This shouldn’t take too long as long as you are adequately prepared and everyone shows up on time! (Rules & info below.)
Attending the Masquerade, where you’ll show off your costumes to the con!

How can I sign up?

Due to the popularity of the NekoCon Masquerade we have moved to an application process. Online applications will open on August 1 and close on September 1.

We will be accepting 25 entries prior to the convention. These entries will have been selected by a panel of NekoCon staffers. Any entry not accepted will be added to a waitlist. Should any of the 25 entries drop prior to the competition we will reach out to the waitlisted entries.

The application will be found here. It will not be open until August 1, 2025.

On-site at the convention there will be an additional five (5) slots open. These slots will be first come, first served. In order to get one of these slots please visit the Cosplay Contest Information table on the Friday of the convention. The table will open at 10 am.

What do I need for Dress Rehearsal?

There will be a mandatory Full Dress Rehearsal for the Cosplay Saturday morning. This will take place between the hours of 9:00am – 12:00pm in Main Events. Time slots will be given out on a first come, first served basis at con during check in. Check in occurs between 10 am and 6 pm on Friday of the convention and on Saturday between 9 am and 9:30 am.

We will NOT give cosplay badges or rehearsal times to non group members, the individual it belongs to must show up to receive it unless first discussed with the Head of Cosplay before Saturday via email: cosplay@nekocon.com

There are no exceptions. All skits must be performed in their entirety, in full costume, and with all props, and will be reviewed by the Cosplay coordinators. You will be given ample time to work out any necessary additional details with the Tech Crew. You are expected to arrive on time for your rehearsal time slot as there is a lot of information to give out and go over. Please remember that presenting any skit during the competition that differs from what you present in rehearsal may result in disqualification.

Tech Crew will only accept files via USB. We cannot use your personal iTunes/music/media/spotify accounts to draw music from. Make sure you have previewed your sound before bringing your USB to the convention. Tech Crew is not responsible for balancing your sound once you give them the USB, they simply put it in and press play at the proper time. We are not responsible for loss of files or USB. Please only have your act’s music file on the USB, and have your file appropriately labeled. Do not email your music, and do not send us youtube links.

While they will do their best, the Tech Crew cannot guarantee that any special requests for lighting & tech effects will be able to be accommodated.

Failure to attend the Rehearsal, arriving after 9:30am on Saturday to get a time slot, or arriving late for your assigned time slot can and will result in the disqualification of you and/or your group from the Masquerade. Please note that if you have NekoCon Staffers on your team make sure that they are not scheduled to work on Saturday as Rehearsal, Costume Craftsmanship Judging, and the Masquerade itself will take up the vast majority of the day. Due to the large number of entrants, we will not be able to accommodate special requests for scheduling.

Rehearsal times are unlikely to change. In the rare event they do, this will be emailed to every contestant and posted in the following locations at the convention: Operations, Info Desk, Registration, and Main Programming.

General Masquerade Rules

The Cosplay Masquerade Coordinator has the final say in any issues that may arise and reserve the right to change rules at any time, with no prior notice. They may reject any skit that they feel breaks the convention or masquerade rules, but will work with you to the best of their abilities to get you on stage, that’s where they want you, after all! Please remember that their main priorities are to ensure the safety of the entrants and to see that the Cosplay Contests go as smoothly as possible.
Attempts to bribe, or influence the judges in your favor in any way will result in disqualification.
Poor sportsmanship is grounds for disqualification from the Masquerade and will result in your being banned from future NekoCon contests. Be a gracious contest, win or lose. Ultimately, you’re here to have fun! Additionally, bullying another contestant or cosplay staff member is strictly prohibited. If the contest coordinator finds out that bullying has occurred, the bully will be disqualified. Be kind to your fellow contestants.
Skits, performances, or costumes that have won a major award at another competition are not eligible for awards. Failure to disclose a winning skit could result in being banned from future NekoCon completions. A major award is described as a “best” or “first place” award. Lying to cosplay staff about your skit’s eligibility (including cosplay judges) is grounds for disqualification from future NekoCon contests.
No entries may contain religious, political, insulting or offensive statements. We utilize the following definition of offensive cosplays: cosplays that incite violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, transphobia, ageism, and bigotry. This includes race-facing (e.g. blackface/brownface/yellowface) as well as costumes that replicate or make light of historic or current international or national tragedies (this includes depictions of the coronavirus in any way).
You must be a registered attendee of NekoCon to participate. NekoCon Staff and Volunteers are eligible to participate. NekoCon Cosplay staff are ineligible to compete.
Follow all venue and convention rules and guidelines.

Masquerade Performance/Skit Rules:

Time limits for each group are as follows:
1 person = 1 minute
2-4 people = 2 minutes
5-8 people = 3 minutes
Handlers and parents/guardians do not count towards your time limit. For safety reasons, there are to be no more than 8 people on stage at any given time.
While we all do enjoy a good martial arts sequence, we must insist that your act does not include any action that would put yourself or others at risk for injury or harm. This includes brandishing weapons. If your presentation absolutely requires any of these things, you must clear it with the Cosplay coordinators at Rehearsal. Remember, there will probably be fragile equipment on the stage, and if you break it, we’re sending you the bill. We are not responsible for injury or harm at the Masquerade.
On stage props must be assembled before you get on stage, or assembled in less than a minute. Stage props must be stable if standing alone or be held up by a group member. NekoCon Cosplay staff will not be responsible for holding up your props. Everything brought on stage by your group must leave the stage with the group in a timely fashion.
There will be no use of projectiles, glitter, silly string, bubbles, or balloons on stage. Limited use of streamers and similar stage effects that can be easily and entirely cleaned up upon your group’s exit from stage is permitted with approval from the Masquerade Coordinator.
Costumes must follow the venue and event guidelines. Intentional flashing of any kind will result in the immediate disqualification of you and/or your entire group, and possible removal from the convention.
No foul language please! Usage of any foul, or abusive language is grounds for instant disqualification and removal from the Cosplay area.
Presenting a skit in rehearsal that greatly differs from the skit you perform in the Masquerade show is grounds for disqualification. We do not mean making mistakes, we understand that things happen. We mean the rewriting of a skit without prior cosplay staff authorization. If you need to change your skit after rehearsal, please talk to a cosplay staffer for permission.

What do I need for my costume to be judged for Craftsmanship?

All entrants who wish to compete in the Costume Craftsmanship portion of the Masquerade must first register for the Masquerade as either a skit or a walk-on. Craftsmanship registration forms can be filled in at check-in on Friday or Saturday, and Craftsmanship judging will be on a first come, first served basis at the convention itself. Craftsmanship judging happens at Cosplay Contest central on the first floor of the convention center next to the Cosplay Repair Station. Please see the map for more details. If you want your costume to be judged but do not want to walk on stage or perform a skit, consider entering the Hall Craftsmanship Competition. If you wish to enter both contests, you may, but you must do so with different costumes.

Nekocon Masquerade Craftsmanship Rules:

You will need to register for the Masquerade before you can register for Craftsmanship Judging. Craftsmanship registration forms will be available at the Masquerade check-in.
All participants must have reference pictures of their costume character; without proper reference material, the judges cannot assess the accuracy of a costume. Please bring printouts, manga, art books, or any other form of reference material to your assigned Craftsmanship Judging time for the Judges to use to aid them in their task. Genderbent versions of characters are permitted.
Craftsmanship judging will take place before the Cosplay Masquerade stage show and is the responsibility of the contestant to complete. No time slots will be given, contestants must come register for craftsmanship at Cosplay Contest Central and return during any of our craftsmanship judging hours. The location of the Judging will be in the Cosplay Contest Central in room 101.
There will be no extension of craftsmanship judging hours to accommodate any masquerade contestant. It is your responsibility to come during craftsmanship judging hours. No exceptions.
Craftsmanship is the assessment of the costumer's skill at making a costume.Any costume that consists mostly of bought items will not be considered for craftsmanship judging (ie. buying regular street clothes that require no alterations). Only 20% of your costume may consist of bought items (undergarments, wig, shoes, etc). 80% must be created by you. If you commissioned your costume, it will not be considered for craftsmanship judging. You cannot receive credit for another person's work. Costumes made by another individual can be eligible for judging if the creator is present for craftsmanship judging. Any award won will be presented to the creator, not the model.Questions about this should be addressed to cosplay@nekocon.com.
Judges’ rule is final. If you would like feedback on your costume, you are welcome to come to feedback on Sunday!

Please READ- Important Changes Have Been Made

Due to the popularity of the NekoCon Masquerade we will now be moving to an application process. Online applications will open on August 1 and close on September 1.

On-site at the convention there will be an additional five (5) slots open. These slots will be first come, first served. In order to get one of these slots please visit the Cosplay Contest