Burning Pumpkins Fest Cosplay Competition rules
BURNING PUMPKINS FEST COSPLAY COMPETITION
GENERAL RULES
Burning Pumpkins Festival will take place on 29th and 30th of October, 2022 at the Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel) venue in Tallinn, Estonia.
If you have any questions about the cosplay competition, please contact our cosplay coordinator at cosplay@animefest.eu.
REGISTRATION
To register for stage competition, please fill an application form and submit it no later than the 16th of October, 2022. Please make sure that you are using a working e-mail address. We are not responsible for any lost information due to incorrect or faulty addresses.
In your application form, please provide:
- An MP3 file with your background music. Please name it “yourname_defile.mp3” or “yourname_stageshow.mp3”. We only accept MP3 files (no YouTube or any other links). You can use free software such as Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/) to edit your music.
- 1 reference picture of your character that will be printed out and handed to the judges in JPG or PNG format. If you have multiple pictures, please combine them into one before sending to us. The higher quality and resolution – the better.
- 1 stage screen picture of your character that will be shown on a big screen during your performance in JPG or PNG format. The higher quality and resolution – the better.
Please use GoogleDrive, OneDrive, Dropbox or any other cloud storage service to send us your files. Do not forget to change permissions so we could access them.
You can also bring your own printed in-progress material to show it to the judges during the prejudging stage.
RULES:
You can cosplay any characters from an official published source of entertainment. Manga, games, comics, anime etc. Original characters are also welcome if adequate references are provided.
Stage performance:
- It is forbidden to use obscenity, profanities, gestures encouraging violence, and pornography. Performances going against cultural and/or social norms will not be let on stage.
- Please make sure your performances are ethically and aesthetically appropriate for a young audience.
- Things that break easily and pyrotechnics are not allowed.
- On stage it is forbidden to use glitter, liquids, or other substances that are difficult to remove (anything that takes more than 1 minute to clean and cannot be swept with a brush). If you want to throw something into the audience, please be careful what you throw.
Costume and props:
- If you have a revealing costume (e.g. a bunny girl costume), please wear opaque tights or leggings under skirts, shorts or any other revealing clothing.
- All props used on stage must be safe and cannot be used to cause bodily harm (blunt/soft blades and other weapons*). Additionally, all organizers reserve the right to confiscate any knives, knife-like objects and other cutting utensils that can cause bodily harm.
- Realistic-looking weapons (including fantasy weapons) may be allowed in your on-stage performance, but cannot be carried in the halls of the venue among the general public as part of your costume. The decision on whether a prop/weapon is allowed will be made by the cosplay stage crew, and can be appealed to the cosplay event manager, whose decision is final.
* Weapons are all items that are regulated by the Republic of Estonia Weapons Act (firearms, gas weapons, pneumatic weapons, throwing weapons, cut-and-thrust weapons, and electroshock weapons).
NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES
We are aiming for up to 50 performances in total. If the number of submissions is much higher than this, we reserve the right to use the information on your submission to choose who gets to go on stage. As organizers we reserve the right to restrict the number of performances.
We will try our best to give every applicant an opportunity to shine on our stage!
If, for some reason, you cannot participate anymore, please let us know as soon as possible at cosplay@animefest.eu.
CATEGORIES
| Category name | Mostly about… | Maximum people | Maximum length |
| Défilé | Costume quality | 1-2 | 50-70 seconds |
| Stage show | Choreography and your original creativity | 1-6 | 3 minutes |
Défilé: This is mainly about your costume and your ability to present it on stage as well as you can within approximately 1 minute. The performance must be between 50-70 seconds. You can perform solo or as a duo.
Stage show: Compilation between great costumes, story and choreography.
In addition to the categories above, we will also award special prizes, including:
- Audience Favorite – voted directly by the audience, usually a “best fanservice” category. Note: stay within the stage rules!
- Best Debut – our judges will select the best performance by a cosplayer who has never before performed on stage at a major convention (e.g. J-Zone, AniMatsuri. UniCon/WinterCon, GameOn/ComicCon Baltics).
All our categories are available for Non-Estonian residents.
Our international guest jury will judge all categories except the Audience Favorite. The judges will also have the opportunity to award special prizes at their own discretion.
PRIVATE DATA USAGE
What we count as your private data: your name, email, phone number, citizenship/place of residence and age) as well as photos and videos of you.
Data provided during registration
The only people with the access to your private data are the Head Organizers and Cosplay Competition Organizers .
During and after the festival
Either while walking around the venue or being on stage, you may be captured in a photo or video about to JAFF and Burning Pumpkins Festival, by a private person, a company or the festival itself.
The official photos and videos from JAFF and Burning Pumpkins Festival will be uploaded to the festival’s social media channels. Official photos will also be used on JAFF and Burning Pumpkins Festival’s website and social media to introduce what is going on at the festival. Official photos and videos can also be used for advertisement/promotion (social media, the press, television etc).
TICKETS
Stage competitors must purchase a full ticket to the event (subject to their own applicable discounts for age, etc.). A 50% rebate on the price of the ticket will be given to stage performers at the venue, after the cosplay competition. Please contact the ticket desk for more information.