Cosplay Contest Rules

„Comic Con Baltics“ Cosplay contest, which will take place on 25th – 26th May 2024, is open to everyone willing to participate and meeting all requirements listed below.

To participate in the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest, you need to fill out the registration form, which you can find at the address https://ccbaltics.com/info/cosplay/, and await a confirmation email.

A correctly filled out form does not guarantee participation in the Cosplay Contest. This will be confirmed by the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay team in a separate email within 5 business days after submitting the registration form.

Individuals aged 16 and older may participate in the Cosplay Contest. Participants younger than 16 will not be accepted.

By registering for the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest, the participant confirms that they have provided accurate information and agrees that their personal information will be stored for the purposes of organizing the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest. 

PLEASE NOTE that starting from the year 2024, the rules of the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest undergo significant changes. We recommend that each prospective participant allocate time and carefully read all the provided information.

To participate in the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest, you must specify the category in which you will participate on the registration form.

Solo Categories (performance duration from 30 to 60 seconds – one person appears on stage):

1. Comics/Books/Movies: Characters for this category can be chosen from comics, books, or movies.
2. Anime/Manga: Characters for this category can be chosen from any anime or manga.
3. Video Games: Characters for this category can be chosen from any computer games.

Cosband (Group Performance): During the performance, 2 to 10 individuals appear on stage. Characters for this category can be chosen from any official sources (comics, books, movies, computer games, etc.). Performance duration is from 45 to 90 seconds.

Original Design/Character: During the performance, 1 to 10 individuals appear on stage. This category is for characters you have created yourself or your created fan arts (your interpretations of official characters). Performance duration, if one person appears – from 30 to 60 seconds. Performance duration, if 2 to 10 individuals appear – from 45 to 90 seconds.

The Best of The Best – All participants of the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest automatically fall into this category. After summing up the scores of the judges and the audience, one winner will be selected. During the 2024 contest, the winner of The Best of The Best category will receive special prizes. One of them is a 50% discount at McDonald’s for 6 months.

IMPORTANT: Please be informed that the prize  – 50 % discount provided by McDonald’s –  winner will be asked to provide his/her email address to start using the McDonald’s discount.

The Audience choice – All participants of the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest automatically fall into this category.

(UPDATE) Nordic Cosplay Championship (NCC): All Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest participants aged 18 and above with Lithuanian citizenship automatically enter this category. The winner of this category gets the opportunity to represent Lithuania in the NCC contest, accompanied by one of the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest representatives. For the year 2025, the NCC representative will be selected during Comic Con Baltics 2025. No representative will be selected in 2024.

(NEW) “Europa Cosplay Cup” (ECC): All Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest participants aged 18 and over who are citizens of Lithuania or have permission to reside in Lithuania automatically qualify for this category. The winner of this category will have the opportunity to travel to France and represent Lithuania in the ECC competition. The participant in this competition will be accompanied by one of the representatives of Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest.

Europa Cosplay Cup rules: https://europacosplaycup.com/#rules

To participate in the selection for this international Cosplay Contest, costumes must be of official characters and made by the participant (original designs/characters, fan arts, and/or purchased costumes are not eligible to compete for the opportunity to represent Lithuania in NCC).

Cosband and Solo Categories

Costume – 60%, Performance – 40% of the final mark.

The costume will be judged based on these aspects:

1. Accuracy – details, proportions, colors, and textures;
2. Construction – variety of techniques used, complexity, overall work quality.

The performance will be judged based on these aspects:

1. Entertainment factor (enthusiasm, interest, lasting impression, impact);
2. Embodiment of the character, acting.

Original Design/Character Category

Costume – 60%, Performance – 40% of the final mark.

The costume will be judged based on these aspects:

1. Variety of techniques used;
2. Complexity;
3. Overall work quality.

The performance will be judged based on these aspects:

1. Entertainment factor (enthusiasm, interest, lasting impression, impact);
2. Acting.

NOTE: All evaluation criteria aspects will have equal weight in calculating the overall result.

PLEASE NOTE! Appearing in store-bought costumes is not allowed in the contest. Costumes of all participants must be at least 80% handmade and/or heavily modified costumes (this rule does not apply to socks, tights, shorts, etc.).

If the judges determine that a costume is entirely store-bought, the organizers will be notified and reserve the right to disqualify the participant(s) from the contest.

Please note that registration for the Cosplay Contest ends on April 19th, 2024, at 23:59. If you wish to participate in the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest, you must fully complete the registration form by this time, which you can find at: https://ccbaltics.com/en/info/cosplay/.

Organizers do not recommend registering for two different performances on the same day. Performance schedules are randomly generated, so you may not have enough time to change costumes and prepare for your next performance.

A correctly filled-out form does not guarantee participation in the Cosplay Contest. This will be confirmed by the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay team through a separate email within 5 business days after completing the registration form.

In the registration form, it is mandatory to provide your real name, date of birth, a valid phone number (format: +370 xxx xxxxx, +371 xxx xxxxx, etc.), and an email address that you frequently check. Fast communication is the key to a successful event.

The number of spots in the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest is limited, so in the case of a large number of participants, we may not be able to accept everyone wishing to participate in the contest. The organizers reserve the right to close the registration for the Cosplay Contest earlier than the announced closing date, once the performance limit is reached (taking into account the event program and other aspects). Any early closure of registration will be announced on Comic Con Baltics social media channels.

The organizers of the Cosplay Contest reserve the full right to change or otherwise amend the competition rules at any time.

If there is a need to modify the information provided during registration, such as audio tracks, images, video materials, etc., you can do so no later than April 21st, 2024, at 23:59. After this date, no changes to the data will be allowed.

The submitted audio track must be in MP3 format, with a minimum quality of 128 kbps, 44Hz (tracks in other formats or of poor quality will not be accepted).

The audio track must be clean, meaning its ending cannot be abruptly cut off; there should be an appropriate fade-out or a logical conclusion, for example, the audio track concludes with an explosion, a thud, etc. The audio track cannot end in the middle of a word.

In the audio recording, no profanity is allowed – all inappropriate words must be muted or silenced. Additionally, the length of the audio track cannot exceed the allowable performance duration (refer to COSPLAY CONTEST CATEGORIES for the permitted duration of the audio track).

The participant must ensure that the audio track is of high quality and complies with the criteria of the Cosplay Contest. In the case of submitting a substandard or excessively long/short audio track, the organizers reserve the right to not approve the participant’s registration, with notification sent via email.

During registration, it is mandatory to attach an image of the character you will be portraying, which will be displayed on the screen during the performance. The image should have a minimum size of 1920 x 1080. The photo must be of high quality, meaning it cannot be pixelated, stretched, or otherwise distorted. Accepted image formats are JPG or PNG.

When registering for one of the solo categories, only the character you will embody should be visible in the image.

When registering for a group performance, the image should show all characters being impersonated.

When registering for the original design/character category, you can submit an image of the character, a photo of the character, or an image that served as inspiration for your costume.

When registering for the contest, you can add up to three additional images that provide more detailed views of the character’s details, allowing the judges to more accurately evaluate your costume. Additional photos for the judges can also include certain costume detail collages – the clearer the presentation of the costume, the better judges can assess it.

The participant must ensure that the photo(s) are of high quality and meet the criteria of the Cosplay Contest. In the event of submitting a low-quality photo(s), the organizers reserve the right to not approve the participant’s registration, with notification sent via email.

If you wish to display video during your performance, please notify us at cosplay@ccbaltics.com as soon as you receive confirmation that your registration has been accepted. In your email, attach the video file or provide a link via platforms such as WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc., where your video recording can be accessed. Please ensure that the provided link is public (accessible to the organizers).

The video recording must match the length of the audio track – it cannot be shorter or longer than the allowable duration of the audio track.

The participant must ensure that the video is of high quality, free from distortion, pixelation, etc. The video format must be 1920 x 1080.

In the event of the participant submitting a low-quality video, the organizers reserve the right to not approve the participant’s registration, with notification sent via email.

In the Cosplay Contest registration form, all photos and audio tracks must be appropriately named:

Audio track: nickname_audio;

Screen photo: nickname_screen;

Judge photos: nickname_judges1; username_judges2, etc.

Upon receiving incorrectly named performance files, the organizers reserve the right not to approve the participant’s registration, notifying them via email.

You can participate in the contest with a costume previously used in other events/contests, but the performance must be new and not presented anywhere else. Costumes that have already been showcased in previous Comic Con Baltics events cannot participate in the Cosplay Contest.

On stage, with the same costume, you can perform no more than twice in different categories with different performances. The quantity of costumes is not restricted, but it is not recommended to register more than two costumes.

By registering for the contest, you confirm that you have provided accurate information and agree that your personal data will be stored for the purposes of organizing the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest. Minors registering must attach a signed consent form from parents or guardians, indicating that their data will be stored for the purposes of organizing the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest. The consent form can be found HERE.

By participating in the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest, you agree that images captured during the event will be stored and used for the purposes of organizing the Comic Con Baltics event.

Feel free to write to us if you have any questions about registration, the contest, or any other related matters. We look forward to your emails at cosplay@ccbaltics.com.

PLEASE NOTE: Cosplay Contest judges are from foreign countries, so the communication language will be English. If you are not proficient in English or face any difficulties, it is highly recommended to prepare a written text about the costume-making process (sewing techniques, fabrics, etc.) and read it to the judges during the prejudging phase.

PLEASE NOTE: The hosts of the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest are from foreign countries; therefore, the main language of the contest will be English. We kindly request all participants to specify the accurate pronunciation of their name or nickname in the registration form to enhance the overall experience for the hosts and all spectators.

The participant of the Cosplay Contest is fully responsible for his/her/them/it time planning, understands and agrees that if he/she/they/it arrives late and/or fails to appear on time for costume evaluation/Cosplay Contest, the organizers reserve the right not to provide him/her/them/it with additional opportunities to participate in the costume evaluation/Cosplay Contest.

During performances, the use of microphones or musical and other instruments will not be possible. Therefore, please prerecord your speech, singing, or playing and send the audio track together with the registration form.

The use of pyrotechnics on stage is strictly prohibited. Failure to adhere to this rule guarantees the disqualification of the participant from the contest and removal from the event.

The use of confetti, small decorations, or other attributes released into the air or scattered on/off the stage is allowed, but you must inform us about it during registration. When registering, choose that you will use a stage prop, and in the “Stage prop description” field, specify that you will use confetti or other small items (confetti flakes cannot be smaller than 2cm x 2cm). If you do not inform us about their use during registration, we will consider it a strict violation of the rules and disqualify you from the contest.

On stage during the performance, no liquids, glitters, powders, or other substances that may damage the stage or be difficult to remove are allowed. Additionally, harmful substances to the environment or people cannot be used on stage. Failure to comply with these rules guarantees disqualification from the contest and removal from the event. The participant will also be responsible for any damages.

Comic Con Baltics is a family event, and minors will be present, so displaying an overly exposed body on stage is not allowed (it is MANDATORY to wear opaque stockings/tights, a bodysuit, or other garments covering the naked body in the case of an open costume). Explicit sexual content, excessive violence, or uncensored language are strictly prohibited on stage. Failure to comply with these rules guarantees disqualification from the contest.

If a cosplayer or a group of cosplayers requires assistance in dressing up or preparing the overall appearance of the character(s), they can invite 1 (one) assistant. A larger number of assistants is not allowed. If an assistant is needed, please inform us via email at: cosplay@ccbaltics.com, providing the assistant’s first and last name, phone number, and specifying on which day assistance will be required during the performances.The assistant will be included in a special list and will be given a separate permit to enter the Cosplay dressing room. If an assistant is not registered, they will not be allowed into the Cosplay dressing room and will be asked to leave the event area before the event opens.

If an assistant causes discomfort and/or interferes with participants and/or staff backstage, they will be asked to leave the premises. Discounts on tickets do not apply to assistants.

Please note that all your props should be safe for the surroundings and people around you. All weapon replicas should be made of safe materials (plastic, lightweight wood, EVA foam, etc.) Metal blades (even not sharp ones) will not be allowed. Firearm replicas cannot have the possibility to actually shoot. All your props might be checked at the entrance or at any time during the event and all sharp blades, swords, knives, axes and other piercing or cutting objects will be confiscated until the end of the event.

Each participant of Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest must purchase a weekend ticket that corresponds to the participant’s fee. Starting from 2024, the ticket price for Cosplay Contest participants is changing. Upon confirmation of your registration by the organizers, you will receive a special code by email, allowing you to purchase a WEEKEND ticket at a special price of 22 EUR, which will remain unchanged until the day of the event opening.

Organizers provide only chairs and tables. All other necessary props must be arranged by the cosplayers themselves. If large props will be used during the performance or additional assistance will be needed to hold/carry them onto the stage, this information must be specified in the registration form under Description of Scene Props.

Participants of the Cosplay Contest must ensure the quality of their props, meaning that props should not easily break, shatter, etc. Organizers and other event staff are not responsible for lost, damaged, or otherwise compromised props at any time during the event

If you have any questions related to the Comic Con Baltics Cosplay Contest, please contact us via email: cosplay@ccbaltics.com.