We have three classes within the Masquerade, the Bard Class is open to those who haven’t made their cosplay but want to do a performance.

If you haven’t made your cosplay and you don’t want to do a performance, then our Cosplay Showcase is a wonderful opportunity to show off your cosplay without having to do a performance or have made the cosplay.

The Masquerade is made up of 3 classes. The Adventurer and Artificer classes must have made some portion of their cosplay (exact percent depends on class) and particpate in both the pre-judging and stage portions of the contest. Adventurers and Artificers can do a simple walk-on stage entry.

The Bard Class is for our performers, so for that class you must have a performance.

You should be aware that Best in Show and Best Adventurer both include performance as 30% of your overall score. However, the Artificer and Adventurer Craftsmanship awards do not take performance into account at all.

With the addition of the ECG Qualifier at the London Show, it is worth noting that a performance is required for the ECG Qualifier or our Challenger class.

Enter our Bard class! This class if for those who haven’t made their cosplay but do want to perform. The two minute performance limit applies to all classes. You can apply to the Bard class at the MegaCon Live site.

Original characters and designs are allowed and welcomed to be entered. In the case of an original character or design your progress book should include inspiration images, sketches and other supporting designs in lieu of reference images. Fursuits can be entered if the wearer made 50%/80% (percent depending on class entered) of the suit/costume elements.

Yes! Groups of up to 6 people can enter.

As long as all the cosplays for the group have been made by a member of the group who is participating in both pre-judging and the onstage presentation of the cosplays, you can enter. If not all your cosplays are made, but you do have a performance in mind, you can enter the Bard class.

There is a Craftsmanship and Performance category for both Adventurers and Artificers. Additionally, there is Best in Show and Best Adventurer which take craftsmanship and performance into account.

We are finalizing the details for the categories within the Bard class.

We’ve restructured the categories for the Masquerade to work with the new classes. Groups are treated the same as solo entries and are eligible for the same categories as solo entries.

Masquerade entrants can store their bags and cosplay items with the Cosplayer Cloakroom for free during the day and during the performance.

Stage Ninjas are allowed to be a part of your performance. They must be in all black and not play a named character in your performance. Check out our post on stage ninjas for more in depth
information.

To help give as many cosplayers as possible a chance to enter, you can only enter once per event.

Masquerade entrants can enter the showcase if there is room, as the showcase is a non-judged event. Masquerade entrants who are interested in entering the showcase should see if there are spots 1hr before the showcase starts at the Cosplay Village.

If you’ve won a Megacon Masquerade before, you can enter but should be entering as an Artificer.  Cosplayers may not enter cosplays that have won a major award at any shows before unless there has  been 50% worth of modifications made to the cosplay. These modifications or updates should be reflected in the progress book. The performance should be at least 80% different. 

We require progress books, which are similar to build books. We’ve decided to call them progress books as these are not judged themselves, rather the material contained in the progress books are used by judges to confirm someone has in fact made their cosplay, to see elements that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to see such as undergarments the entrant has made, or internal seams.
Progress books must be digitally submitted during pre-check.

Please note, as the Bard class does not need to have made their cosplays, they do not need to bring a progress book.

Performances must be 2 minutes or less. Oftentimes less is more, so the advice is to lean towards less time than more. This is not a challenge to be exactly two minutes long. It’s a limit not a goal. We cannot make exceptions to the 2 minutes rule, and trying to get around it while onstage may result in disqualification.

Walk on entries are limited to 30 seconds

Unfortunately, this is not possible due to the Mega Stages busy schedule. There are on-stage monitors for mics, but singers should be advised that on-stage monitors can get out of sync.

We will do everything in our power to provide reasonable accommodations. Please email the Cosplay team at cosplay@megaconlive.com if you need accommodations.

Yes, all Masquerade entrants and stage ninja’s must have a valid ticket to enter the event and the Masquerade. The Masquerade is included in the event ticket.

Yes, the Mega Stages at Megacon have ramp access., all ramps are a minumn of 150cm wide. If you need additional assistance please let the cosplay team know.