Costume & Cosplay
Contest

Creativity is on display as talented creators show off their skills on Saturday night. Separated into Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, and Master categories, attendees in costume will be competing for the top prizes as well as the coveted Audience Choice award. Following the costume entries, cosplayers will compete by performing cosplay skits. Saturday evening in Main Events.

Entering the 2026 Contest

Hello, cosplayers! Thank you for your interest in the 2026 COAF Cosplay Competition. Whether you’ve been with us for years or are just starting your cosplay journey, PLEASE read this page thoroughly. We have made some significant changes to how the contest will run.

Dates and the Selection Process

The 2026 applications will open on Sunday, February 15 and remain open through Wednesday, February 25. In previous years we accepted submissions on a first come, first served basis, but we have grown large enough that we needed to refine our selection process.

• Applications: As stated above, we will accept applications from Sunday, February 15 through Wednesday, February 25. WHEN you enter is less important than WHAT you enter. Anyone entering within that time frame will have an equal chance of being selected to compete.

• The cosplay contest is limited to 50 total entrants across all categories. There is not a set cap per category due to several variables. These may include the number of applicants per category, and the judges right to change the category an entrant participates in.

• The selection process: Starting this year, all entries will be juried. Don’t worry, cosplayers will only be in competition with others in their division. When you enter, you will be asked how close your cosplay is to completion. Preference will be given to competitors who are closest to being contest-ready. The better you are able to describe what you’ve been working on, the greater chance you’ll have of being selected. It’ll be on the honor system for now, but anticipate that your cosplay should be at least 50% complete by the start of March. In the future, expect that you will be asked to provide proof of your progress.

• When will I hear back?: Since the initial selection process has changed to focus on quality, no one will be notified of whether they’re in the contest until after all applications have been received and processed. We will contacting people no later than March 4, 2026.

• Communication: As always, communication both ways will be vital. PLEASE check your inbox and spam folder regularly. There’s no guarantee we’ll be able track you down as we have in previous years. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll assume you are not interested in competing and remove your application from the pool.

That’s a lot of new information, and we thank you for your patience as our department and our competition continue to grow.

Contest Applicant Guidelines

Once again, please read all the rules and guidelines completely before you enter. Many common questions will be addressed on this page. The three most important things you need to know are:

• Competition cosplay must be from one of the following sources:

  • Japanese anime, manga, culture, mythology, etc.

  • Similar material from China, Korea, or mainland southeast Asia

  • Material from anywhere that is heavily influenced by Japanese anime, manga, etc., or is a reboot of a Japanese franchise

• This is a craftsmanship-based contest, so part of the finished piece must be handmade. Entirely store-bought cosplays cannot be considered for competition, even in the Skit category. The higher the level, the more original work is expected.

• Read and respond to your welcome letter. If you don’t, you may miss vital information and could lose your spot in the contest or find yourself disqualified when you arrive at the convention. You must confirm your judging time with us or a time slot will not be reserved for you.

Keep these guidelines in mind as you prepare for our competition. They will be explained in greater detail below. We’ve tried to anticipate many questions the cosplay community might have. As you continue reading, there’s a good chance that you’ll find what’s you’re looking for below. If you are still unclear, please contact us and we’ll do what we can to help.

We Are Gathered Here Today…

We’re all here because we love cosplay, so be kind and have fun. Be considerate of others. Diva fits or inappropriate pressuring of the staff or judges won’t be tolerated and may result in expulsion from the contest. If there is an issue such as bullying, harassment, unwanted physical contact, or any other inappropriate behavior, please bring it to the attention of security or the Cosplay area head. The COAF staff take your safety seriously and strive to offer guests and attendees the best experience possible.

Who Can Enter, and How Do I Register?

The competition is open to all Colorado Anime Fest attendees. You can register for the competition by clicking on the links within each individual category below. If there are any time slots still unoccupied, they will be made available at the convention itself. We have the traditional Beginner, Intermediate, Masters, and Skit categories, as well as a no-pressure Novice division.

Once you’ve been accepted into the competition, you’ll be contacted and asked to pick your desired time slot for craftsmanship judging. Different divisions are allotted different amounts of judging time:

Planning Ahead

Be flexible. Things happen, and they’re not always in our control. The best way to combat this is to come prepared:

• Bring everything you need with you to the Green Room.

• Have all weapons properly checked and banded before your judging time. If you have any particularly large props or weapons, you can check them in at Cosplay Daycare until the contest. We’ll have you sign a waiver and leave them in judging room. We can’t guarantee their safety, but the room will either be locked or occupied by Cosplay staff—and it’s still safer than lugging an oversized claymore through the hallways.

• Give yourself extra time to get to judging and Green Room. People will want to take your picture. Bask in it.

If you miss your time, we may be able to squeeze you in, but we make no guarantees. Likewise, it’s your responsibility to arrive at Green Room with at least a half-hour cushion to get you into you correct division and in line order. If you arrive after the order is set, you might have to skip your turn on stage.

Any recorded music, effects, or dialogue must be submitted for approval as soon as possible. You’ll be asked to make note of any sound or light cue requests on your application. After submission, the Cosplay tech team will reach out to you. It’s important that you complete the tech needs form (if applicable) and stay in contact with our tech team. Otherwise, your on-stage experience may not go as smoothly as you’d like.

If you need a handler, we have designated staff members who will take excellent care of you. We allow contestants to bring their own handlers, but given space constraints, we request that you only bring a handler if one is necessary. We’ll have people watching the Green Room while the contest is taking place, so you can leave any items you wish in there while you are on stage.

If you’re running late or need to step out of the contest altogether, please, please, PLEASE contact the Cosplay staff immediately. This allows us to open up judging slots and is a courtesy to the judges and your fellow cosplayers. If you don’t contact us, you may be placed on the waiting list in future years instead of being granted a judging time, no matter how early you register.

Source Material, a.k.a.
the Genshin Impact Effect

As mentioned above, previous years’ competition pieces were required to come from Japanese or Japanese-inspired source material. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked a certain game came out of China and made competitions like ours rethink everything. If that wasn’t enough, a more recent Netflix film featuring demon-slaying songstresses completely sealed the deal on what could be allowed in the judging room and on stage. While COAF is still foremost a celebration of everything Japanese (anime, manga, J-rock, Visual Kei, history, mythology, and so on), we also acknowledge that Japan’s influence has spread far beyond its borders.

Of course, Japanese and Japanese-inspired cosplay entries are always at the heart of our contest. That being said, we’ve expanded our parameters to include other east Asian sources. That includes Korea, China, and mainland southeast Asia. We also accept entries from shows that are reboots of Japanese anime, series that are made in cooperation with Japanese studios, or ones whose plotlines and artistic style have been heavily influenced by anime or culture from any of the aforementioned countries. If you’re not sure something qualifies, please reach out to us.

Covering the Basics

When selecting a hallway and main stage cosplay, please consider a PG rating as a guide for determining what is best suited for the con. If your clothing might elicit, “Mommy, what’s that?” from a five-year-old, you’re probably showing too much. All pink bits should be concealed. No nudity or lingerie cosplay for the contest, please.

The same applies to any skit scripts and pre-recorded aspects of your competition piece. Violent, suggestive, discriminatory, or otherwise inappropriate submissions will not be accepted. Questions regarding suitability will be answered by the Cosplay department head and their decision will be non-negotiable.

Feel free to modify a garment to make it wearable for the entire weekend. Likewise, you may wear items that are a part of your faith or personal moral code. If you’re competing, make sure to provide documentation to the judges about what the original character looks like and what you altered. Such modifications will not detract from your final score, and ingenuity might actually give you a boost.

Likewise, weapons—particularly firearms—should be constructed to indicate that they’re props. Laser pointers or projectile weapons that can actually be fired are not permitted. Unstrung bows and other such modifications are allowed. As with clothing adaptations, you won’t be marked down for these changes.

Ready to Enter

For all competitive divisions, fully store-bought cosplays are not permitted. We’re craftsmanship-based, and we want that to show at across the board. Depending on the category and level of difficulty, at least a portion of the costume must have been crafted by the creator. The percentages below indicate the bare minimum for each level:

• Novice and Beginner: Street clothing may be used, but it must be altered at least 25% from its original state and 25% of the entire piece must have been crafted from scratch.

• Intermediate: At least 50% of street clothing must be significantly altered and at least 50% of the entire piece must be crafted from scratch.

• Masters: No street clothing is permitted.

• Skit: The degree of craftsmanship should adhere to the guidelines set for each category.

• Groups: The level of the group is determined by the level of the most advanced member.

Exceptions to the rule: Some items, such as shoes, tights, wigs, hat bases, and so on may be purchased and worn as-is. Modification of any or all of these is expected at Intermediate and required at Masters. Any exceptions at Masters level will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Any commissioned aspects of a cosplay must be noted. Allowance of such pieces is up to the judges’ discretion.

Any cosplay that has won a craftsmanship award at any level is ineligible for the competition.

The creator and the cosplayer do not necessarily have to be the same individual. In some instances, the finished product is worn by a model. If this is the case, any awards will be given to whomever built the cosplay.

Any cosplayer found to be violating these rules will be removed from the contest and banned from future competition.

The final decisions from judging and otherwise are at the discretion of the Cosplay staff and COAF management. Additionally, these rules are subject to change for the benefit of Colorado Anime Fest, the convention space, and attendees of the con.

We’re fortunate that Colorado and its surrounding areas are a tight-knit cosplay family, and a very friendly one overall. Everyone knows everyone else, and, by extension, most people’s cosplay experience and personal style are also well known. That being said, it’s very difficult for a competitor to falsify information because there is almost always someone who will call their bluff, so getting banned from one con can easily mean getting banned from all of them. Please don’t be tempted. As we mentioned before, play fair, have fun. Love your cosplay experience and the wonderful people around you.

Scoring

One of the main questions we get from cosplayers is how scoring works. We’ve modeled our judging system off the one used at Anime Expo, specifically the guidelines used at the national finals for World Cosplay Summit. While this might not be a significant selling point for all of our cosplayers, we do know that there are a number of you looking to compete at a higher level. We’ve instituted our system to get you used to what you will experience as you progress. For those of you who are competing for fun rather than as a means to rise up through the ranks, it’s still an excellent rubric with clear expectations.

Accuracy — 20%

• How similar is the final piece to its original design?

• If there is any interpretation or modification, how well does it reflect the nature of its source material?

Quality — 40%

• How well is the piece constructed?

• How accurate is the fit?

• Is the finish neat and consistent?

Technique — 40%

• What is the range of skills demonstrated?

• Is there creative use of materials?

• Does the creator have a unique style that makes this piece unmistakably theirs?

Skits

• 50% of the score for Skit entries comes from the onstage performance.

• The above categories count for 10% / 20% / 20%, respectively.

Please keep in mind that this serves as a general framework for scoring that allows for individual interpretation for each cosplayer. A beginner is not going to be held to the same overall standards as a master. Rather, we’re looking for how well a cosplayer meets these goals within the expectations of their division. Similarly, when there are people of varying divisions in the same group, each person will be assessed at their own level, even though the group must compete at the highest level among its members.

Portfolio = Panic

Many cosplayers, especially those in higher divisions, have noticed that more and more conventions are requiring that cosplayers bring a build book or portfolio. This may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! By the time most cosplayers reach mid to upper intermediate level, they’ve stored up sketches, concept art, fabric swatches, and progress photos from many of their previous cosplays. If you already have many of these pieces, simply gather them together in a file or folder, physical or digital. Add a table of contents, awards won, a resume, or pretty much anything else that reflects your growth as a cosplayer.

Build books are similar in nature, but specific to a particular cosplay. All the elements (reference images, sketches, fabric swatches, etc.) are arranged to show how one particular project has been assembled, from concept to completion. Make sure to include pictures of the building process, and don’t forget the obligatory fur baby photo bombs.

Divisions and Applications

Novice

For cosplayers who’ve either never competed or don’t feel ready to enter in another category, this is a no-pressure zone. There’s no actual “judging” in this category, but you and a few others who are new to competing do get to show off your creations to a panel of enthusiastic fellow cosplayers who have been exactly where you are now, then strut your stuff on stage and get an otaku goodie bag. Welcome to our world!

Beginner

If you’re new to cosplay or have only competed a few times, this is your division. Craftsmanship isn’t expected to be perfect. Rather, the judges will be looking for how you have translated a character from paper or screen to your own person. Remember, even the most experienced cosplayers were once where you are now. We want to celebrate you as you grow.

Intermediate

In the past, a cosplayer who had won in the Beginner division—either at COAF or any similar convention—was automatically bumped to Intermediate. Breathe easy, that’s no longer the case. Our contest has grown and we want to be sure our competitors are able to enter at the level where they feel most comfortable. Intermediate is the category for those who have several competitions under their belt or are ready to push their abilities to the next level. A higher degree of skill is required in this category as judges start to take fine details, fabric choices, and more advanced techniques under consideration. A build book or portfolio is recommended, but not required.

Masters

This is the place for the most seasoned and decorated cosplayers. Competitors in Masters are those whose work is considered to be professional or near-professional quality. All aspects are considered, including seams, linings, underpieces, structure, and props. A build book or portfolio is required, and a cosplay resumé is recommended. At this level, the tiniest detail can make a difference in judging.

Skit

Just like the name says: this is a blend of both performance and craftsmanship. Standard craftsmanship judging will occur as per the other categories and each cosplayer will be judged at their own skill level. The performance aspect, however, will count for half of the final score. If anyone in the group is at Masters level, a build book or portfolio is required. Skits should run about two to three minutes, and all of that time must be pre-arranged, blocked, or choreographed material. Longer times may be approved on an individual basis by the Cosplay department head. Copies of the script and audio recording must be submitted for approval as soon as possible.

Hey, I know that guy!

Cosplay is contagious (insert evil world domination giggle here), and some of our staff have fallen victim to its sway. Yes, folks, the COAF Cosplay competition is open to COAF Staff as well as attendees. We’ll work around your departmental duties and you’re eligible for any of the awards, so bring your A game.

Children of Cosplay staff who are fifteen and younger may enter the contest but won’t be eligible for any of the division or craftsmanship awards, nor Best in Show. They can, however, win Audience Favorite. Older offspring may compete with the general population but run the risk of us being very, very disappointed that they cut corners by using hot glue instead of Barge Cement.

Wait… what?

There are times when the judges decide that an individual should be bumped up to higher category. If this happens to you, it’s most definitely a compliment on your work. If you’re not sure where you belong, don’t be afraid to ask. If you’ve competed before, enter the category you were in previously. If you’ve won a several craftsmanship awards in that division or made significant strides since you last competed, you might be ready to move up. Ultimately, though, we want you to be in the category where you feel most comfortable.

We hope that we’ve answered your questions and set your minds at ease. If not, please drop us a line and we’ll do what we can to help.

See you at Colorado Anime Fest!