At Anime North we have two major costume competitions - the Friday Night Skit Competition and the Saturday Night Masquerade.

The Masquerade is a costume showcase and competition and is a great opportunity to show off that extra-special costume you've been working on. The time limit for the Masquerade is 1 minute, so it's more focused on costumes as opposed to lengthy skits. The Skit Competition is for those who love to perform - lip-synching, dancing, acting, comedy etc. and has a 5-minute time limit. See the appropriate pages for pre-registration information on both events - each event has a different registration form, so be sure to download the right one.

The "Masquerade" 4-class system has been in existence for over 20 years, recognizing and rewarding the time and skill costumers at all levels put into their works, as well as how they present them on stage. And things have been going well, since we've been routinely getting about 90 separate entries, making the Anime North Masquerade one of the biggest, most spectacular competitions in North America and the envy of those who really understand and love costuming.

The Anime North Masquerade is an amateur costume competition for Anime/Manga costumes, J-Rock costumes, Media costumes, (Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, video games etc.); Fantasy and Science Fiction costumes, Japanese Historical Costumes and any other costumes related to one or more of these categories.

Due to the ever-growing popularity of the masquerade and limited space in our main room, Anime North will have a Wristband Policy for seating at this year's Saturday Night Masquerade. To be guaranteed a seat you MUST pick up A wristband at the specified Table (See the programming schedule) during the hours of operation. Wristbands only guarantee a seat, not a seat together. If you plan to sit with a large group of friends we recommend you arrive at the Main Room Early.

To guarantee seating, you must be in line by 4:30 PM on the day of the masquerade. After that time, we open up the line to overflow seating and anyone can enter, space permitting.

***YOU MUST SHOW YOUR CONVENTION BADGE TO PICK UP A WRISTBAND***

SEATING IS LIMITED, SO BE SURE TO PICK UP A GUARANTEED SEATING WRISTBAND AT THE APPROPRIATE DESK (LOCATION TBA) PRIOR TO 2PM SATURDAY.

The Saturday Night Masquerade will be broadcast on the in-house TV channel at the Doubletree hotel, on a short delay from the live event.

The Masquerade will begin on Saturday May 24, 2008 at 5:00 PM; if we are all ready to go we will begin as early as 4:30, however.

Note: Times are tentative, please check back closer to the event.

All contestants must register at the Masquerade Registration Desk. This will be open on Friday from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, and on Saturday from 10:00 am to 1:00 PM. You must register by 1:00 PM on Saturday in order to be in the competition. Please note, since the masquerade has a cap this year, all slots may be filled before 1:00 PM on Saturday. Each day will have a specified number of registration spots, allowing those who cannot make it to the convention until Saturday to still register.

The 2008 Anime North Masquerade will have a limit of 80 spaces available.

Green room check-in for entrants begins at 2:00 PM on Saturday. As of this time, check-in will start downstars from the Plaza Ballroom and Foyer, and the remainder of the green room will be upstairs in the Foyer. To avoid extra stress on the little ones, young fans can come later - they must check into the green room from 3:30 to 4:00.

Thursday registration

Given the earlier masquerade start time and the popularity of the Thursday night pre-registration session, there will be a Masquerade registration session on Thursday night where a limited number of entries will be accepted. Stay tuned for details regarding location and times, pending further details of AN pre-registration events on Thursday night.

The Standard Division System, in accordance with the International Costumers' Guild Guidelines, will be used as follows:

Junior Division
(Also known as the Young Fan Division)
Any contestant under 13 years of age at the time of this competition may compete in the Junior Division. The Junior Division is divided into two subdivisions.

Junior Self-made
A Junior contestant who has largely or wholly constructed his/her own costume.

Junior Adult-Made
A Junior contestant whose costume has been largely or wholly constructed by an adult.

Novice Division
A contestant who has not won a major award at a Masquerade other than as a Junior costumer. Workmanship Awards, an Honorable Mention or an Honored for Excellence Awards need not apply to this count.

Journeyman Division
A contestant who has won fewer than three awards at Masquerades while competing in the Journeyman Division.

Artisan Division
Any costumer who has won three or more awards; or who wishes to enter this division, provided that they do not belong in a higher division in use in the competition.

Master Division
A contestant who has won more than three times in the Artisan Division, or has won a Master award at a WorldCon, CostumeCon or a major award at a nationally recognized regional Anime Convention. Also, anyone who is a professional in a Costume-related business must compete as a Master. For the purpose of this competition, a professional is defined as making 50% or more of their income in the costuming-related business.
If there are not sufficient Masters competing to fulfill this division, those entries will be judged in the Artisan Division.

Out-Of-Competition Division
The Masquerade is an amateur competition. Purchased or rented costumes may not be entered in competition for awards, but may be shown on stage in the Out-Of-Competition Division.
Costumes made for business purposes, theatrical and professional events are not eligible for awards but also may be shown in this Division. In addition, anyone who wants to show their costume in this Division may do so.

Note - due to high demand for places, the AN masquerade gives first priority to non-purchased and amateur costumes. If space is available at the end of the registration time, we will accept purchased and commissioned costumes. Those wishing to enter a purchased or professional costume may be interested in the Friday skit contest, which has different policies regarding purchased and professional costumes.

Workmanship Judging
Judging for Workmanship Awards will take place backstage prior to the start of the Masquerade. These awards, for excellence in construction, will be given out in addition to the Masquerade awards. You can be judged on your costume or only on a specific piece or prop. Workmanship judging is optional, so please indicate on your entry form if you wish to be included in this judging. Workmanship applies to entries in any of the Divisions, except the Out-of-Competition Division. Quality is quality, no matter the Division, and a beautiful job deserves recognition. Our Workmanship Judge(s) will look for technical skill, finishing, fit, handling of fabric and materials, etc.

Note that Workmanship judging is optional, but all Artisan and Master costumes must undergo Workmanship inspection from the judges so that the judges know what parts of the costume were constructed and what parts (if any) were purchased.

Documentation
Documentation can include any pictorial representation of your costume. Provide copies only; do not bring originals. It is strongly recommended that you provide documentation for re-creation costume entries if you feel the Judges may not be familiar with a particular Anime/Manga. If you are entering your costume for workmanship judging, bring two copies of your documentation. Do not submit documentation with your entry form - instead, bring your documentation with you when you muster for the masquerade.

Note: A contestant may compete in a Division higher than the one they are eligible to enter. Keep in mind that if the contestant wins in this higher Division, they must compete in that Division in future competitions.




ALL ENTRIES HAVE A TIME LIMIT OF ONE MINUTE (60 SECONDS).

Those planning extremely complex or large presentations should strongly consider entering the SKIT COMPETITION, which has considerably more generous time limits. Those wishing to enter the Skit Competition MUST pre-register BEFORE the convention. Information on the Skit Competition is posted here. *insert link to skit contest page*

Any queries concerning either Masquerade or the Skit Competition should be directed to the Masquerade Director in advance of the convention.

If you have any special introduction for the MC to read, please have it typed or printed clearly so it can be easily read. Without an introduction, the MC will announce only your entry number, division and title at the beginning of your presentation. After your presentation is complete, general credits will be announced.

There will not be any microphones provided for the contestants. Directly addressing the audience is *strongly* discouraged as most of the audience will not hear you and this may detract from your presentation. If you have narration or dialogue included with your presentation it should be recorded on CD.

If you have an introduction, music or sound effects to accompany your presentation, record it on a standard CD. It is also advised that you bring two copies of your CD in case of any problems playing the original. Write the entry title and track number to be played legibly on the CD. It is stongly recommended to test your CD on a standard player (i.e. not a computer's CD-ROM drive) to ensure maximum compatibility. We cannot play mp3s, WMA, WAV, iPod or other sound file types.

Note that we no longer have the means to play cassette tapes, and cannot accept them.

If the sound runs longer than your presentation (e.g. a commercial CD) or must be cut on cue, please be very specific as to when to cut. The usual cue is to fade the sound as the entrant leaves the stage. It is best, when you want the sound to end at a specific point on a CD, to record the material you want onto a self-burned CD.

Do not submit valuable or rare original CDs. Copy on to a self-burned CD.

Submit one copy of your CD to Masquerade Registration when you complete your registration forms. If you have made a second copy, bring it backstage with you to the Masquerade.

NOTE - We must receive your CD when your registration form is submitted - if we do not have your CD by the close of registration, we can't play your CD on stage.

CDs used in the Masquerade can be picked up at the Masquerade Registration desk on Sunday. Any CDs left with us after that, unless specific instructions are given, become the property of the masquerade and may be flung into orbit.



Junior contestants will present first. Other entries which include children may request to go on next if they do so at the time of registration. If there are any special circumstances that would affect your place in line (such catching a ride home that night) please tell the Masquerade staff this when you turn in your forms at the Masquerade registration desk. We will attempt to comply with your requests, but cannot guarantee placement.

1. No open flame, fire, flash powder or flash paper is allowed. Sealed electronic flashes are permitted. If you are using a strobe effect please note it on your form so the MC may warn the audience. No pointing of laser pens at the audience or tech crew.

2. No messy substances on stage. If in doubt ask the Masquerade Directors. The stage must be in as good a condition when you leave as when you enter. If you are leaving something on stage, it must be able to be easily picked up by the stage crew, or bring your own ninja.

3. No flagrant nudity. This Masquerade is rated PG-13. There will be children in the audience.

4. The weapons policy of the convention must be followed. No real firearms, no realistic copies, and no projectile weapons are allowed. Please transport your weapons to and from the Masquerade in a bag or closed container if they do not conform to the convention weapons policy. While weapons will be allowed on stage, they must be checked by our staff first.

All weapons must be sheathed before leaving the stage. If your costume requires a bow, it must be unstrung when you are not on stage.

5. Each person may present only once during the Masquerade. While any individual may compete as many costumes as they like, they can only wear one of them. The others must be on other bodies.

6. Contestants must report to the Masquerade Green Room on time. Report times will be supplied at the convention: check at the Masquerade Registration Desk for this information. Failure to appear or to be ready to go on stage may result in disqualification. Note that Acts of God may, to an extent, mitigate this.

7. The Masquerade Directors reserve the right to eliminate anyone from competition on the basis of taste, danger to the audience or other contestants, or for any other reason deemed sufficient. Flagrant or repeated violations of the rules may result in the contestant being barred from future masquerades, at the Director's discretion.

8. The Judges may choose not to give out a Best-in-Show Award, a Best-of-Division Award, or may not give out any awards in a division at all if they do not feel any costumes entered in that division are deserving of an award. The decisions of the Judges are final.

Masquerade Entry Form (.pdf)

This form must be completed in full, with all signatures, and brought to the Masquerade Registration Desk at the con before Saturday 1 PM.

DO NOT submit the form in advance of the con, as there is no Masquerade pre-registration this year.

Please also be sure to read all the Masquerade Rules posted on the website: when you fill out and submit this form at the convention you acknowledge that you have read and agree to abide by all masquerade rules.

Thank you.

As always, Anime North will have a variety of fascinating panels for every skill level.
contact: masquerade@animenorth.com