Cosplay is an incredibly important part of our festival. We love seeing you bring your favorite characters to life though your effort, dedication, and passion!
We strive to bring you the best experience in whichever contest you chose to enter. This comes with an important caveat though; We also expect you to read up on the contest you are entering in advance, so you are aware of the contest rules, format, entry deadlines, contest times, and any specific entry requirements.
Otafest’s Craftsmanship contest, Skit contest, and Stars of Cosplay are sponsored by The Costume Shoppe.
So you want to enter a cosplay contest, eh? The very first thing you should do is to decide on which contests you would like to enter and determine if your cosplay would qualify for entry. Read up on the contest’s rules and requirements. If you have any questions at all please, please, please email us.
Here are a few tips to help your experience be as smooth as possible:
.Hosted in Ideation Room 4
Cosplayers deserve to feel comfortable and confident. Our Cosplay Repair Station is stocked with everything you need to fix unexpected malfunctions, so you don’t have to worry about your outfit falling apart.
Hosted in Ideation Room 4
Cosplayers deserve to feel comfortable and confident. Our Cosplay Repair Station is stocked with everything you need to fix unexpected malfunctions, so you don’t have to worry about your outfit falling apart.
You’re in the right place to get started! Each contest has its own page, scroll back up this page and click the “Contest Info” button for the contest you’re interested in.
You can enter any and all of them as long as you meet their requirements!
Yes, for every event except Stars of Cosplay.
We have limited time for each of our contests, and understanding that the cosplay contests are very popular events, we must have a limit on how many people can participate.
This is especially important for the Cosplay Showcase and Cosplay Fashion Show. If competing is important to you, please arrive early for registration for those events.
Late entries will not be accepted to any of our contests.
Otafest staff members are generally not permitted to enter contests. The final decision rests with the Head of Contests. However, any staff member directly involved in the organization or implementation of a specific contest is strictly prohibited from entering that contest under any circumstances.
Judges are permitted to enter contests they are not judging, but not a contest where they have any judging-related input. For example, a judge for the Cosplay Showcase may enter the Cosplay Fashion Show. Judges from previous years may enter any contest at Otafest.
All past and current judges who enter a contest will be automatically placed in the Advanced category.
The time listed on the schedule is when the show begins. The listed time does not include preparation time, which occurs before the start of the show. To ensure that we’re on time, we require all contestants to arrive at the designated setup time provided in your confirmation email.
Arriving early allows staff to complete all necessary preparations, including contestant check-in and stage setup. Contestants who do not arrive on time will be considered late and will be disqualified. Contest start times cannot be delayed, as other events are scheduled to follow.
We don’t like turning people away so please don’t put us in that position. Pay attention to our instructions and arrive at the communicated time.
We get it, missing a deadline is a real bummer. Unfortunately, we can’t accept late registrations for our contests. We have to stick to our timelines to keep the event running smoothly and on schedule for all attendees.
The best thing to do is start getting ready for next year! We’d love for you to join us then. To make sure you don’t miss out, follow our social media and keep an eye on our website for all the important dates and announcements.
The winners are chosen by our fantastic judges! Our organizers don’t have a say in who wins, as we want to make sure the process is fair and unbiased.
The only exception is our special Stars of Cosplay contest. For that one, the power lies with your fellow attendees get to vote for their favorite!
We’re always looking for talented cosplayers to join our judging crew! Our judges are usually long-time cosplayers with a ton of experience, and we especially love working with those who have won at the Advanced level in our past contests.
If you’ve been rocking the cosplay scene and are ready to share your expertise, keep an eye on our social media. We’ll announce when judge applications are open and can’t wait to see your application!
We know that waiting can be tough, and we appreciate your patience! The judges dedicate their full attention to each and every contestant. Since a lot of amazing people enter our contests, we have to make sure each one gets the time they deserve to present their creation and answer questions.
We do our best to keep things moving as quickly as possible without rushing anyone, but there will be a bit of a wait. For a faster experience, make sure to pre-register for our contests online when you can!
We want to make sure you’re in the perfect spot to shine! When you sign up, we’ll ask you a few simple questions about your past experience. Your answers help us figure out the best fit for you.
Since our judges are the pros, they might chat with you during prejudging and, at their discretion, may move you to another category if it’s a better match for your skills. We’re all about making sure your hard work gets the recognition it deserves, so please be honest with your answers—it helps us help you!
YES, absolutely! Pre-registering is a fantastic idea and an easy way to make your contest experience smoother. When you sign up online, you save us and yourself time, and you guarantee yourself a spot in the contest! Keep in mind, you still need to show up on time to secure your spot.
It’s the best way to get ready for the show and a perfect first step to an awesome weekend!
No problem at all! Plans change. The most important thing is not to submit another entry, as that can create a lot of confusion for us and for you.
If you need to update any of your information or change your entry, all you have to do is email us and we’ll make the changes on our end.
You can email us at cosplay@otafest.com. Please allow a couple of days for us to reply as we tend to receive a lot of emails.
