Comprehensive Explanation Costume Contest

The following describes how the contest will proceed, as well as the rules for participation.

Registration

You can register at the Fantasy Court info stand on the day of the festival to participate in the costume contest. There are only limited spots. We will ask for your age and your name. Our volunteers will then ask some questions to determine whether you meet all the conditions to participate. After this, you can choose a time slot, again on a first-come first-served basis. During this time slot, you can show your costume to the judges. You must be present 10 minutes before the start of your time slot. Registration closes at 13.30 or when there are no more spots available, whichever comes first. There is no entry fee to participate in the costume contest.

Participation

We expect you to comply with the rules described below. In addition, we expect you to be present on time. We will not be searching or calling, so if you are not there, you will be deregistered and cannot participate. Our volunteers will accompany you to and from the judging. After judging, there will be a photo opportunity with a photographer. These photos will come online later, as well as the group photo of all participants. The costume contest will start at 14:00.

Judging and Award Ceremony

Judging takes 2.5 minutes. Think carefully in advance about what you want to say and what you are most proud of in what you have made. Above all, make sure the judges know about these highlights!

Important to keep in mind: The individual parts of your costume are just as important as the whole. We judge on how it fits together visually. We like it if you explain why you went for specific garments or if you have a nice story about your costume. For example, if you portray a self-made character, tell why they wear these clothes.

State clearly if you made something yourself as well as if you did not. Suspicion of providing this information incorrectly will result in disqualification.

After the judges have judged all the costumes, they will add up the scores and meet to decide on the final winners. Note: There are more prizes than just the top three. Some of these categories are secret so people cannot intentionaly aim to win them. So simply come as you are!

Exclusion from Participation

Costumes must not be obscene, offensive, incite hatred or be provocative. Also, we adhere to a swimsuit policy: anything that a standard swimsuit covers must also be covered on stage. The costumes in the costume contest may not be bought. The costume contest is not open to characters from published works, including films, TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games and card games, i.e. it is not a cosplay contest. However, original interpretations of existing characters are allowed, e.g. Steampunk Batman, Indiana Jones if he lived in 1350, Brave’s Merida reimagined as a fairy, etc. are examples of costumes that would be allowed.

The final choice of whether someone qualifies to participate lies with the volunteer at the info booth, and their choice is decisive. Fantasy Court volunteers and organisation are excluded from participating in the costume contest to win prizes.

Prizes

All prizes of the costume contest are sponsored by various Fantasy Court exhibitors. These prizes are a surprise and will be announced during the ceremony. No cash prize is available and prizes may not be exchanged for cash.

General Rules

 

• Costumes should be homemade or significantly modified existing items: Mention if you made something yourself, but also if you did not. The majority of your costume should be homemade. The more you have made yourself, the higher we rate it. We expect you to have made at least 70% yourself, as it is not unexpected that some items were bought. Purchased costumes may not compete. Having bought or not made the costume yourself, and not reporting this, is an automatic disqualification from the competition and future competitions. Creative reuse of material and recycling of a costume is highly appreciated, however, you must have structurally changed or added things yourself. Otherwise, we will treat it as a bought costume;
• Costumes not made by the wearer are only allowed if the creator is present: you can have someone else participate as your ‘model’ in your self-created costume. However, you must be present to explain how you made it and the like. Also, the other person may not have paid any money for the costume (i.e. no commissioned costumes, etc.);
• Group costumes are not possible, these can only participate as single participants and will be judged separately;
• There is no minimum age limit, although in the case of young participants we do ask that parents stay with them for a while to make it less nerve-wracking;
• A volunteer from the organisation will be present at the registration point. The volunteer will judge whether your costume meets the requirements of the competition. We therefore ask that you approach our volunteers respectfully. Insulting, disrespecting, or in any other way mistreating volunteers is an automatic disqualification, and a disqualification for this and all future competitions at Fantasy Court;
• Not being present during your call-time is an automatic deregistration and disqualification;
• The organisation reserves the right to deregister you at any time for any reason.