Cosplay is such 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 in advance on the contest you are entering so you are aware of the contest rules, format, entry deadlines, contest times, and any specific entry requirements. This point alone will allow us to have a fantastic time together!
The cosplay events at our festival are carefully planned, administered, and implemented by our dedicated Cosplay Team. Please take note of our team so you know who to find if you have any questions!
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:
Our festival is growing and so are our cosplayers’ time demands and skill levels. We want to provide a wide range of events with reasonable time commitments for you.
When you see a cosplay contest in the schedule, that means the show starts at that time. This means that we need time beforehand to get you and everyone else ready to begin the performance on time!
If you don’t turn up early then we can’t set up on time and the contest would be delayed. However, since there are other events following our contests in the same room, we’re forced to start at the scheduled time. This means if contestants are late we will start without them.
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 given set up time.
Otafest acknowledges that the land we gather on is the traditional territory of the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprising the Siksika, Piikani and Kainai First Nations), as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations). The City of Calgary is also the home of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.
Photos on this website are courtesy of
Elyse Bouvier, Brenrich Carandang, Plutopia Productions, Ryan Logan, Dani Sato, Chi Tang