Children’s Cosplay Contest

Kid Cosplayers! This is your chance to compete, and meet other creative people who share an interest in cosplay as an artform and cultural expression. Contestants will be judged on your creativity, the level of work you put into the costume, as well as the energy and passion that you put into your cosplay to bring the character to life. Only people under the age of 17 can enter, and you must pre-register by Sunday, September 10th at 12pm to participate; report to the 4th Floor Ballroom at 12:30pm for pre-judging.

Registration – Contestants may sign up online or in-person on Friday and Saturday during regular convention operating hours, and on Sunday until 12:00pm (noon). 

Any adult wishing to compete alongside a child must register with the child in the Adult cosplay contest and abide by the rules set out for that contest.

Categories – 

  1. Newborn to 11 years old
  2. 12 to 17 years old 

Costume Eligibility – 

  1. Level of personal work done on cosplay – Competitors are highly encouraged to make their own costumes, but are not required to do so. Store-bought cosplay, cosplay created by parents, closet cosplay, commissioned cosplay, etc. are all accepted to the competition. 
  2. Type of Design: Costumes must represent an existing or recognizable character from the pop culture realm including movies, TV, comic books, manga, anime, etc. Costumes can also include derivative designs from artists (i.e. Hannah Alexander Art, Sakizo Illustrator, etc) so long as reference artwork is provided for the judges.
    1. Competitors will not be docked points for assistive device use such as wheelchairs, glasses, etc. 
    2. Competitor body size/shape/skin color/orientation/race/etc will not affect judging.
  3. Costumes cannot have previously won a major award at another competition (1st, grand prize). Costumes that have won minor awards can be entered.

Any group of 2 or more cosplayers will sign up as one contestant and be judged as if they were one. The group should register in the category that would fit the eldest cosplayer in the group. 

Judging – The Children’s Cosplay Contest will have pre-judging from 12:30pm to 2:30pm on Sunday, September 10th.  Each contestant will sign up for one of two prejudging time blocks, allowing for more time on the show floor! Cosplays will be judged based on creativity and the level of work they put into their costume, as well as the energy and passion that brings their cosplay to life. More details are listed below about the judging specifics. 

We highly recommend that you bring character references to help ensure that the judges understand the design of your work. 

Stage Walk – Contestants should be able to safely move in the costume with limited assistance (except in the case of disability or age that requires a helper), and the costume must not impede the Contestant’s ability to get on and off stage. A single adult may take the stage with the child contestant to help with the Stage walk. The adult is allowed to be in cosplay while on stage, but the adult’s cosplay and stage performance will not be considered in the final judgment of the Kids’ contest. 

Prizes: 

  1. Best in Show
    1. Grand Prize: $100
  2. Ages Newborn to 11
    1. 1st Place: $75
    2. Runner Up: $50
  3. Ages 12 to 17
    1. 1st Place: $75
    2. Runner Up: $50

To register for the Children’s Cosplay Contest – https://forms.gle/7NeCxDzp676JQX7V8

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