COSPLAY CONTEST

Many of our attendees love to cosplay, and OMG!con's Cosplay Contest is one of the most beloved events at OMG!con every year. Entering our contest allows you to show off your hard work, your skits, and your love of labor in front of talented judges and a live audience!

OMG!con is a family-friendly convention! Everyone must adhere to the Dress Code Policy and Weapons Policy at all times, including while in cosplay.

2026 Cosplay GUESTS!

Cosplay EVENTS!

Exhibition and Competitive sign-ups are available during con hours at the Cosplay Booth.

Everyone entering the Cosplay Contest needs to first check-in with Cosplay Staff to sign up for scheduled time slots. These time slots are available at a first-come, first-serve basis. You do not have to be in cosplay to sign up.

Judging will take place on Saturday. If you don't arrive on time for your prejudging time slot, you will automatically be disqualified! No exceptions!

ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST HAVE A BADGE!!


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We have three sign-up options available: Exhibition, Competitive, and Performance (Skits)!
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EXHIBITION
EXHIBITION ENTRANTS walk on stage for a few seconds, pose, and show off their cosplay to the judges and audience. It’s a low-stress and fun way to participate in a cosplay contest. Think of it like a fashion runway show :)

‍COMPETITIVE
COMPETITIVE ENTRANTS walk on stage like Exhibition Entrants, but they compete with other cosplayers for prizes! Entrants are given a pre-judging slot, and during this slotted time, the judges learn more about your cosplay, how you made it, materials used, etc.

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE ENTRANTS deliver scripted acting or choreographed dances to the Cosplay Contest audience. Performances take time and planning to achieve, but they are a ton of fun and a great experience for all!



‍NON-COMPETITON DIVISONS

‍Chibi Division
For juniors 12 and under. This category is not judged, and the costumes do not have to be handmade.


Exhibition Division
This division is intended for those who wish to show off their cosplay on stage for fun but are not interested in competing for awards.

For those who did not make their costumes themselves. These include commissioned outfits, store-bought outfits (purchased from eBay, AliExpress, Mercari, etc.), rented cosplay, borrowed cosplay, or closet cosplay (costumes made up of entirely existing/found parts with little to no modification).
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- Fursuits will fall under the Exhibition Division, but cannot be judged due to lack of expertise.


Competition Division‍
The following divisions are for those who want to compete for awards with their costumes and/or performances. In order to compete here, your costumes must adhere to the following criteria:
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All costumes must have been made from scratch, or by heavily modified existing parts (at least 70% or more) by the costume creator.
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Commissioned Costumes cannot be entered in the competition divisions; however, if the designer chooses to use a model for their cosplay, the designer will get the award and not the model.


‍Novice Division
This division is intended for those new to making their own costumes or performing on stage who have not competed much, if at all.
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Criteria for Novice Division
No more than 1 major award won previously at a comparable-sized convention or larger, for their costumes or performances.


Journeyman Division
This division is intended for those who have experience with creating their own costumes and performing on stage.
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Criteria for Journeyman Division
No more than 2 major awards won previously at a comparable-sized convention or larger, for their costumes or performances.


Master Division
This division is intended for those who have extensive experience with creating their own costumes and performing on stage.
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Criteria for Master Division
More than 3 major awards won previously at a comparable-sized convention or larger, for their costumes or performances.

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COSTUME JUDGING!
Remember that in order to have your costume judged for Craftsmanship, you must enter for one of the competition divisions: Novice, Journeyman, or Master! It also must meet the criteria listed above! When you register/check-in for the Cosplay Contest, you'll be able to schedule an appointment to have your costume judged for Craftsmanship.

Bring references!
A reference is a picture of the character that you are cosplaying. Both front and back reference photos are REQUIRED. Without a reference, we cannot accurately judge your costume for craftsmanship. It is exremely beneficial to your score to bring as many reference materials as possible (preferably as a color printout), but bringing figures, tablets, manga, books, laptops, etc., will also be accepted. Some people have built entire books detailing their process from start to finish, and those are heavily encouraged!

Be prepared to talk about your costume!
Come in knowing what you want to say. Tell the judges everything about how you made your costume. Things that you should talk about include fabric, construction methods, or any special methods you used to get around a problem in designing the costume. The judges will look at your costume up close and judge on your craftsmanship and will be there to help guide you in your costume judging.

Judging Appointments: Each prejudging time slot will be hourly! So, for example, if you sign up for a 3 o'clock appointment, please be there at 3! We will give each entrant roughly 5 minutes for the judging process as a guideline.

Generally, the time is spent half discussing your costume, and half looking at your costume up close.


If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to us at cosplay@omgcon.com!