BRINGING THE FUN OF FANDOM BACK TO THE VALLEY....
Mid Valley Comic Art Expo 2025 Cosplay Contest
Cosplay Contests Information
BIG NEWS FOR 2025...
Open Cosplay Contest Prizes!
1st Place $500
2nd Place $250
3rd Place $125
Sponsored by 4 Rivers Convergence Inc.
All participants will attend a private prejudging session where judges will examine their costume for Technique, Execution, and Creativity!
General Cosplay Contest Rules:
- You must be a registered Mid Valley Comic Art Expo attendee to compete.
- You must sign up for the cosplay contest at the Mid Valley Comic Art Expo booth at the event.
- Entrants 16 and under will be designated to the Kid’s contest, must have their parents' permission to enroll and must be accompanied by a legal guardian or relative of age at the event.
- All costumes must at minimum cover "swimsuit areas" to adhere to the "PG-13” guideline including use of language and hand gestures during the contest.
- COSPLAY IS AN ALL-AGES EVENT: The cosplay contest should be considered a “PG-13” rated event at the most. The judgment of what is acceptable is left to the sole discretion of the cosplay director and Mid Valley Comic Art Expo staff.
- Contestants are not allowed to throw anything off the stage, nor use projectiles or use anything on stage that will leave a mess. This includes (but is not limited to) liquids, glitter, and confetti.
- All cosplay events have the potential to be photographed/filmed/recorded in some fashion. These recordings may be used in future event galleries or promotions. Signing up for, and/or attending, any cosplay event is done with the understanding that recording could occur at any time, and permission is tacitly given for the participant's likeness to be used.
- Legal Disclaimer: Mid Valley Comic Art Expo Staff, Lahar Promotions and Oregon State Fair & Expo Center reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone to the Cosplay Event for any reason.
- Additional Cosplay Guidelines on page 4 of https://mvcae.com/mvcae-event-policies
- Remember that Cosplay is NOT consent and we ask that all attendees please conduct themselves in a respectful manner with cosplayers. Our staff and judges have the right to remove anyone from the event and/or contest if they cannot follow these guidelines.
Saturday April 5, 2025
Open Cosplay Contest (Ages 17 and older) from 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Bring your Cosplay A game and let the show begin! MVCAE's Open Cosplay contest is a walk-on style contest, allowing contestants a minute on stage to strut their stuff! All participants will attend a private prejudging session where judges will examine their costume for Technique, Execution, and Creativity!
The Open Cosplay Contest has three categories!
- Advanced Craftsmanship - Contestants in this category have crafted most of their costume from scratch. These contestants may have entered a few contests before and maybe even won an award or two.
- Beginner Craftsmanship - Contestants in this category are new to crafting, maybe this is the first costume they’ve made on their own costume.
- Walk-on - Contestants in this category want to get on stage but might not have made their costume. This is the category for contestants who have a knack for thrifting and finding the perfect pieces for their costume, or who found the perfect costume online!
Open Cosplay Contest Rules:
- Sign-ups for the Open Cosplay Contest happen at the Mid Valley Comic Art Expo booth Saturday of the event. Sign-ups begin at 12:30 PM and end at 2:30 PM.
- After signing up, contestants will be prejudged by the cosplay judges. Judging will take no more than 5 minutes and will happen in a private area.
- Prejudging times are Walk-on / Beginner Craftsmanship 2:45 PM to 3:30 PM followed by Advanced Craftsmanship 3:45 PM to 4:15 PM. Times to be confirmed at sign-up.
- We know that people have different levels of cosplay skills in costume making and that will be considered by our contest judges.
- Each contestant will have approximately 1 minute to walk across the stage, pose and show off their costume. Afterward the MC will lead them through a brief interview and the contestant will exit the stage.
- The Open Cosplay Contest is a walk-on style contest. While we encourage dynamic posing and embracing your character, we do not allow any skits/dances/etc. Any music will be provided by MVCAE. We cannot accommodate special music requests at this time.
- We will have awards for Advanced Craftsmanship, Beginner Craftsmanship and Walk-on in the open cosplay contest.
During prejudging our judges are looking for the following:
- Technique: Did the contestant use a variety of techniques? Did they learn something new while making this costume? Did they push the boundaries and discover a new way to do something?
- Execution: Did the contestant execute these techniques well? Are the edges finished? Is their foam sealed? Does the costume look sturdy and well made?
- Creativity: Did the contestant show us their passion for the costume and character? Did they make interesting and informed decisions based on their character and the world? Did they do something above and beyond to show the character’s personality? Does this costume invoke the character it’s based on?
- Note that contestants in the Walk-on category will only be judged on Creativity!
Sunday April 6, 2025
Kids Cosplay Contest (Ages 16 and younger) from 2:00 PM to 3:15 PM
The Kids Cosplay Contest is a fun opportunity for younger cosplayers to get on stage and show off their costumes! Costumes can be purchased or handmade! All participants in the Kid’s Cosplay Contest must have their parent’s permission to enroll and must be accompanied by a legal guardian relative of age at the event.
Kid’s Cosplay Contest Rules:
- Sign-ups for the Kid’s Cosplay Contest happen at the Mid Valley Comic Art Expo booth Sunday of the event. Sign-ups begin at 11:30 AM and end at 1:30 PM.
- Participants must be always accompanied by an adult guardian.
- Each contestant will have approximately 1 minute to walk across the stage, pose and show off their costume. Afterward the MC will lead them through a brief interview, they will talk to the judges briefly in more detail about their cosplay and then the contestant will exit the stage.
- The Kid’s Cosplay Contest is a walk-on style contest. While we encourage dynamic posing and embracing your character, we do not allow any skits/dances/etc.
- We will have prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the kid’s cosplay contest.
