1. All Rights Reserved:
   1. The Contest Director has final say over decisions regarding awards, division placements and overall eligibility of an entry, at any time before, after and during the Contest.
2. In Person and Online Safety of Staff and Entrants:
   1. Abuse, Harassment: Any abusive or unsafe behaviours observed in-person or online towards our staff and/or other Entrants, at any time, will result in the removal of the abusive person(s) from the contest.
   2. Consent during Judging: The Judges will likely need to touch parts of the Entrant’s costume and/or see the underside/inside of parts. Verbal Consent from the Entrant will be required for Judges to touch parts of the costume currently on the Entrant’s body. Common requests: examine the inside structure of a hat, touch a 3d-printed surface, poke to check for metal inside a boning channel, look at the underside of a hem, etc.
   3. Dangerous Items: are not permitted in the Contest. All Cosplays must adhere to the Anime North Weapons and Large Props Policy: https://www.animenorth.com/index.php/about/rules-policies
3. Skill Divisions (Fair Competition Principle):
   • The Director will consult with the Judges to ensure that all entrants are in the appropriate Divisions to ensure a fair competition:
     1. Young Fan (age 17 and under)
     2. Novice (Restricted to those entering a cosplay competition for the first time and/or who have no relevant awards and little to no experience).
     3. Intermediate (Entrant has prior cosplay awards of some kind, and/or relevant experience).
     4. Experienced - (Unrestricted/Open Competition - anyone)
4. Build Books/Documentation and Other Entrant Property:
   1. All Entrants must submit visual and physical documentation of their crafting/techniques process. We call this a “Build book”.
   2. All "books" and any loose items must all be clearly labelled with Entrant’s Real Name and Entry Title and bundled securely, together into one item. Either stapled, glued, bound, put in a binder, etc. No electronic submissions.
   3. Submitted Build Books are to be picked up Sunday before the Awards Ceremony ends (or shortly after).
   4. Any Entrant items unclaimed after the Awards Ceremony will be considered abandoned and left with ConAid.
5. No Repeats/Competes:
   • You cannot use the same costume in this Contest and the Anime North Masquerade (or any other Anime North contests). This will result in an immediate disqualification.
   • We will confer with other departments to verify before announcing awards.
   • If discovery is made after awards are announced, we will publish a retraction online.
6. Eligible Cosplay Requirements:
   1. One Entrant = One Person = One Entry = One Eligible Cosplay;
   2. Only the self-made parts of the Entrant’s Cosplay are Eligible for Judging consideration;
   3. No “Closet Cosplays” (ex: most of what you are wearing is off-the-rack except for Novices);
   4. Commissioned/Purchased, friend-made Cosplay Parts and/or Patterns:
      • These are allowed to be used HOWEVER YOU MUST disclose these things to the judges during the Interview and/or in your Build Book or disqualification;
   5. Eligible Cosplays must be recognisable as being a specific character or an OC/Fanart, that has appropriate references to support a recreation;
   6. Eligible Cosplays must be entirely supported and moved under power of the wearer’s body, except for “Props”, which are by nature designed to be carried. (ex: a staff, a lantern, etc).
7. Eligible Entrants:
   1. MINORS: This contest is family-friendly however, Entrants under the age of 18 are not permitted unless they have the prior written consent and release of the Adult decision making authority.
   2. All Entrants must have a valid weekend pass for the current year’s Anime North.
8. Accessibility for Entrants:
   • Entrants who have accessibility requests can let us know ahead of time so we can make the appropriate arrangements for their full participation. There is a section for this on the entry form.
9. Awards:
   • Winners will be called onstage at the Awards Ceremony.
   • Awards, Certificates, etc are to be picked up at the appointed time period from the Contest Location: Before/During/Immediately After Awards Ceremony. Unclaimed awards will be held for next year only.
10. Legal Considerations:
    1. Every Entrant is required to show their valid for that day Anime North badge at check-in;
    2. Every Entrant must sign a physical copy of the Entry Rules onsite, at check-in. This form contains the above rules and requires a FULL MEDIA RELEASE. 
    3. If you are under age 18: we require your parent/legal guardian to sign the Registration and Waiver Form on-site at check-in. They must agree to the FULL MEDIA RELEASE.  
    4. By entering you acknowledge you have read, understood and accepted all terms, conditions and information related to this Contest and agree to be bound by them.

WHAT IS IT?

BUILD BOOK REQUIREMENTS:

1. No electronic submissions: printed on paper and/or physical samples;
2. All “Books” and any Containers submitted are to be clearly labelled with Entrant’s Real Name and Entry Title and numbered (i.e: Bob Ross “Happy Hidden Leaf” #1 of 2”);
3. All Papers should be in a binder/folder or stapled/clipped;
4. Physical Materials Samples should be attached or in sheet protectors and/or put in a closed container;
5. Build Books are to be picked up Sunday before the Awards Ceremony ends (or shortly after).

What should it look like?

• DollDamage Cosplay: (LINK) 
• @arsigida 2024 (LINK) 

TUTORIALS/EXPLANATIONS:

• Plexi Cosplay: Panel: Create a Cosplay Build Book (LINK)
• Kirilee Cosplay: 8 Tips (LINK) 

• No audience! Entrants and support people only.

• Supports/Guardians are always allowed; however we cannot accommodate groups. There is ample waiting space in the hallway/foyer and we can always fetch you.

• This will vary based on the complexity of the costume and crafting techniques presented. Interviews could last anywhere from 1-10 minutes.

• Based on pre-registrations, we will assign multiple entrants to the same Arrival Time Judging will happen based on order of arrival within the Judging Block time.

• Before May 20th: Edit your entry form (you CANNOT change any files uploaded) After May 20th: email directly to [email protected]

• We are not "ICG" (not applicable to workmanship contests) and therefore do not use the same division system as the AN Masquerade. We tier based on experience and skill:
  • Young Fan (age 17 and under)
  • Novice (Restricted to those entering a cosplay competition for the first time and/or who have no relevant awards and little to no experience).
  • Intermediate (You have prior cosplay awards of some kind, and/or relevant experience).
  • Experienced - (Unrestricted/Open Competition - anyone)

• See other Tab

• Please see Entry Rules 6 and 7.
• Nobody can do it all! Everyone has different skillsets and we love seeing the community support small businesses!
• Therefore, commissioned and/or purchased cosplay parts and/or resources are allowed to be used HOWEVER they cannot be judged and MUST be disclosed to the judges at the start of the Interview.
• Ex: you bought a 3d modelling file, embroidery, 2d cutting file or sewing pattern online from a creator - COOL. Include that info in the Build Book.
• Entering any items created by another person or purchased, without disclosure, will likely result in disqualification.

• See the tab “Meet our Judges”
• Our judges are highly experienced former/current Anime North Masquerade Winners/Cosplay judges and/or Anime North Cosplay Guests. Judges are simply looking to give back to their community and see all the amazing and creative things cosplayers make. Please see Judges Bio Section for details.

• See tab “awards:
• We have a Best Cosplay (1st place) who wins a weekend pass to next Anime North. We also award a Best for each Division and various Excellence awards in categories such as Sewing, Patternmaking, 3D printing, Foam work, etc. Further, each Judge has discretion to award a Judge's Choice. Please see Judging Info for details.

• We do not mail out awards but can save them for you to pick up next year.
• If you cannot pick up your Build Book after the ceremony, please contact us to make arrangements for someone else to pick up your items or we will leave them with the nearest CONAID table after we close up. We do not have space to store these until next year.

• Our judges are more than happy to provide constructive feedback and answer questions about your work, this is likely to happen Sunday after the Awards are presented. Please indicate this on your Entry Form so we have an idea of how many people to accommodate.

• Please see Entry Rule #1.
• Please note that we are volunteers and we do not condone staff abuse or online cos-drama. Judges do offer feedback. The Director reserves all rights. Contact us at [email protected] if you have questions.

• Best Character Recreation
• Best in Novice Division
• Best in Intermediate Division
• Best in Experienced Division