Idol Festival

The Idol Festival showcases various idol, J-pop and K-pop dance cover groups. This is a fun, non-competitive platform to perform and is a fantastic opportunity for exposure, meeting new friends, and growing both individually and as a group.

Important note: Idol Festival performances will be on an outdoor stage and all outdoor programming is weather permitting. There is no guarantee outdoor programming will have an indoor location should we deem the weather unsafe to perform. As such, Idol Festival may be cancelled if the weather is unsatisfactory for performances.

Requirements

Format

This is not a competition event! It’s a showcase where you can dance and enjoy performing for an audience without worry of being judged or compared. Come and have fun, meet new friends, and most importantly, enjoy performing!

Check-In

Check-in is from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm in the Cosplay HQ room on Friday May 10. All participants must check-in during this time to go over audio, be briefed on how the show will run, along with any safety considerations. In the event that Idol Festival must be cancelled due to weather conditions, we will inform you during check-in, or give you a heads-up that it may be cancelled. Alternatively, if an indoor location is available, we will inform you of the change. During check-in, you’ll be able to make any last minute adjustments (such as requesting an introduction for your group), or make additional requests. We cannot guarantee that all requests will be accommodated, but will do our best to try.

Any participants who fail to check in without having emailed the coordinator ahead of time will not be permitted to perform.

Transition Time

During the event, each participating group will have some transition time to get on and off the stage, as well as get into position before their music starts. Otafest will add this transition time to your entry, please do not add this on yourself as it will cause the show to run faster than intended.

New for 2024!

Option to Compete

If there are enough willing participants, there will be a separate competitive aspect to the event. The competition will run before non-competition entries, similar to the Cosplay Contest’s walk-ons before skits. There will be two categories (solo, group) that are further divided into 3 sub-categories (Novice, Apprentice, and Idol)

If you are interested in the competition aspect of the Idol Festival, please indicate so on the sign up form.

Please note that the competition will only move forward if there is enough interest. The non-competitive aspect of the event will still be available and will move forward regardless of whether the competitive aspect happens or not.

Categories

Novice (Beginner Category)

Apprentice (Intermediate Category)

Idol (Masters Category)

Audio

All audio you wish to use for the duration of your performance must be submitted via the registration form or emailed to noa.byers@otafest.com prior to April 5, 2024. We will not accept any last-minute changes, or changes submitted after this date.

Only audio submitted on the form will be accepted, we cannot accept other forms of audio submission (e.g. USB stick).