Cosplay Contest

Presented By:

You’ve spent hours researching, designing, sewing, gluing, and duct-taping your costumes, now it’s time to strut your stuff and show everyone the result of your hard work!

One of the most celebrated parts of Long Beach Comic Con is the Cosplay Contest, where more than fifty of the best cosplay costumes for all ages in Southern California compete head-to-head in a variety of categories. An expert judging panel chooses the best of the best in front of one of cosplay’s most enthusiastic audiences.

This year’s Long Beach Comic Con Cosplay Contest will award prizes for the following categories:

*Best in Show*
*Best Fabrication (Sculpting & building)*
*Best Construction (Sewing & use of fabric)*
*Best Hero*
*Best Villain*
*Best Sci-Fi*
*Best Anime*
*Best Group or Couple*
*Best Kid*
*Best Space-Theme*

Cosplay Contest Pre-Judging and registration will be held on Saturday, August 30 – the deadline to register is 3:00 pm.

*Subject to availability.

The Contest will begin on Saturday, August 30, at 5:00 pm!

All paid admissions to the Long Beach Comic Con are eligible to participate in the contest.
NO STORE BOUGHT COSTUMES WILL BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONTEST. PLEASE REFER TO RULES BELOW FOR REFERENCE

1. We are proud to bring you the ultimate Costume Contest! The Costume Contest is a craftsmanship award show, with a pre-judging session and a catwalk display. Join us for pre- judging in the Long Beach Convention Center on Saturday Aug 30th.

2. If you would like to participate in the Costume Contest, please come to pre-judging at the Nerd Mafia booth in the Long Beach Convention Center Exhibit area on Saturday Aug 30, 2025 by 3:00 PM.

3. Contestants can only enter in one category, Individual or Group. Due to the unpredictable size of groups, a prize for each member cannot be guaranteed.

4. No skits during judging or catwalk.

5. No nudity. No costume is no costume.

6. No profanity allowed on stage. That includes messages on signs or clothes. Anyone who violates this may be disqualified from the competition.

7. No political or religious statement during the catwalk. Anyone who violates this may be disqualified from the competition.

8. Do not use any sort of projectile at all! Nothing must leave your person while you are on the catwalk. Anyone who violates this rule may be disqualified from the competition and may be asked to leave the convention area.

9. No flash pots, explosive devices, or similar special effects are to be used. No glitter, confetti, pyrotechnics, live flame or smoke generators of any kind are allowed in the Long Beach convention center exhibit area or inside of the building. Anyone who violates this rule may be disqualified from the competition and may be asked to leave the convention area.

10. All prop weapons must conform to the Long Beach Comic Con Weapons Policy, which is as follows:

  • All weapons must be non-working and peace bonded. The responsibility to get this weapons check performed is yours, so please don’t sneak in without it. We reserve the right to deny access to anyone who presents a public safety or security issue in our sole discretion.
  • The following items are forbidden at LBCC:
    • All firearms (including air soft guns, BB guns, cap guns, paintball guns and pellet guns)
    • Replica firearms (including reproduction, fake or toy guns that can be confused for real firearms)
    • Projectile weapons (including blow guns, crossbows, long bows, slingshots and water guns)
    • Metal-bladed weapons (including axes, daggers, hatches, knives, kunai, shuriken, swords, sword canes and switch blades)
    • Explosives (including firecrackers and fireworks)
    • Mace and pepper spray
    • Blunt weapons (including brass knuckles, clubs and nunchaku)
    • Hard prop weapons (including props made of metal, fiberglass and glass)

    We allow prop weapons if they are composed of foam or cardboard only. We allow prop bows if all arrows have soft tips.

  • Any weapon used in an offensive manner will be confiscated.
  • Anyone who violates this rule may be disqualified from the competition and may be asked to leave the convention area. We expect you to use good judgment; with your help, we can continue to allow peace-bonded weapons.

All Weapons are subjected to inspection by Long Beach Comic Con STAFF, Nerd Mafia STAFF, or on-site Security Staff.

11. All applications must be submitted at the time of pre-judging, Saturday at the Long Beach Comic Con Exhibit Center, and applications will be available at that time. THERE ARE NO ONLINE APPLICATIONS, Sign-ups are at the Nerd Mafia Booth by 3PM. All contestants not participating in the youth category must be at least 2 years of age to enter. Contestant under the age of 14 must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian during all portions of the contest. All judging will be done before the showing, off-stage.

12. Costumes must be self-contained.

13. Do not enter or exit the catwalk except at the designated points.

14. Each contestant may only enter one costume into competition.

15. Large elaborate costumes must be handled by the contestant and/or assistants the contestant brings to help. Long Beach Comic Con will not be able to provide assistants.

16. Pictures and video will be taken during the “Performance” portion of the Judging process of the participants. These pictures/videos are the property of Long Beach Comic Con, for the purposes of advertising and promotion of future events and contests.

17. This is an open genre costume contest. Genres include but not limited to: Zombies, Sci-Fi,
Anime, Comics, Novels, Steam Punk, TV, Film, Anime, etc.

18. All costumes must abide by the rules of the convention dress code and weapons policy. If a policy violation is discovered by any of the Long Beach Comic Con staff or judges panel, that entry will be disqualified.

19. Purchased costumes are prohibited from entering the contest. However, exceptions can be made for costumes that contain “found” pieces, “modified” or in other words, altered from its
original design or purpose; although this may affect the total craftsmanship score of the participant, it is not meant to discourage participants from entering the contest. Costumes that are considered as “kits” are allowed so long as kit was assembled by the participant. All participants should be prepared to briefly explain the process through which their costume was created, altered, or modified. Costume(s) should be 80% “hand-made”.

20. We cannot turn the lights off prior to your performance. Each participant will have 30 seconds of time to perform on stage. This is your time to shine. So make the best of it.

21. To be judged for accuracy a visual reference, preferably a front and back color photo on paper, can be turned in with your application. Electronic media (i.e. CDs) will not be accepted nor will bringing a laptop or video device (i.e. iPods) to pre-judging. This is not required. However, you may not be eligible for accuracy points if the judges are not familiar enough with your character.

22. While no changes to these rules are foreseen, certain circumstances may require the rules or times be changed. Any changes will be noted below. A copy of these rules will be posted at the information table on Friday and Saturday of the convention.

** Verification of ages and school will be made. Proof of age and school must be provided and verified by Long Beach Comic Con and Nerd Mafia.