Dear cosplayers,

we invite you again this year to the rich Rikon Cosplay Contest. The Rikon Cosplay Contest takes place as an evaluation before the judges and a presentation to the audience.

Applications for the Cosplay competition are mandatory via the application form on the website RikonRijeka.com, and are open until Sunday, October 6, 2024. (11:59 p.m.). The application form for the competition includes the obligation to pay the registration fee in the amount of €10, with which the contestants gain unlimited weekend entry to Rikon.

Who can apply:

• Persons older than 14 years,
• People with self-made costumes,
• If you are part of a group cosplay, each cosplayer applies separately and is awarded separately - you can only do a joint performance for the Cosplay Show,
• Rules valid only for the Apprentice League: cosplayers with costumes they have already shown at other conventions or events, and young cosplayers with costumes made by others or purchased costume components (eg help of spikes, purchased goods) can apply.

Competition categories:

When registering, contestants can register in only one of the offered categories:

• Master League (advanced/ awarded)
• Apprentice League (beginners/debuts)

The Master League is a category for all cosplayers who have accumulated enough experience over the years to compete at a higher level:

• Cosplayers who won first place or Best in Show at any convention in Croatia or abroad.
• Cosplayers who have won one or more awards/categories at any convention in Croatia or abroad in consecutive years.
• Cosplayers who won Best Apprentice at Rikon in the previous 2 years.

The Apprentice League is a category intended for all young, new or beginner cosplayers whose costumes have not won awards in the past, or do not feel brave enough for the Master League, who want to compete, have fun and win awards.

• By competing and winning the Best Apprentice award, cosplayers win the right to participate in the Master League in the following years.
• If you are a professional costume designer or cosplayer, have won awards or have been hired to make costumes, do not apply to the Apprentice League. The organizers reserve the right to disqualify.
• If you are not sure which category you should apply for, contact us before filling out the application form.

Application process:

• Applications for the Cosplay competition are mandatory via the application form on the website RikonRijeka.com/cosplay
• If you are applying to the Master League, you must provide information/references about previously won awards.
• It is necessary to attach 1 (one) reference picture of the character you are cosplaying to the application form. That photo will be included in the audience voting application and will be displayed on stage during the contestants' performance in the Cosplay Fashion Show.
• It is mandatory to attach 1 (one) musical OR video background for the performance to the application.
• If only background music is attached, the reference image of the character will be displayed on the stage screen during this time. If a video (with music included) is also attached, that video will be displayed alongside the reference image of the character.
• Performances on stage for each competitor last a maximum of 2 minutes.
• Your music or video files MUST be cut and last a maximum of 2 minutes!

Evaluation rules and judging panel:

• The panel consists of 3 to 5 people chosen by the Rikon organization.
• The panel must not be biased towards any contestant.
• The panel and organizers reserve the right not to award a prize or prizes without further explanation.
• Competitors have a very limited time to show their costume and answer the judges' questions, so we ask everyone to respect the given restrictions and be ready (in costume) for judging at the given time which will be announced in advance and in the schedule of the program.
• During the Judging and Cosplay Fashion Show, the jury awards up to 10 points to each contestant, in both categories, for the following costume elements:
• Quality of crafting: quality of making suits, props, weapons, presence of all relevant details (props, weapons, recognizable elements of the costume), quality of gluing or joining of elements and visibility of cuts, neatness and color details of the costume,
• The quality of the sewn costume: the quality of making the sewn costume, the cut of the costume, the neatness of the seams,
• Performance: originality and quality of the performance, audience reactions, composition of the performance and presence on stage, coordination with the music,
• Approach to the original theme: fidelity to the concept, twist or addition, gender-bender and the like,
• Make-up and hair/wig: styling, design quality, use of special effects, body paint or prosthetics.

Cosplay Fashion Show:

• To participate in the Cosplay Fashion Show, contestants can hold a performance or just walk in front of the audience.
• Competitors have a maximum of 2 minutes for the performance. We advise competitors to practice their performance at least once and measure the time.

Master League:

1. Best in Show - award for the best cosplay convention
2. Master runner-up - second best costume of the convention
3. Audience favorite - audience award, can be the same person who has already won one of the mentioned categories

Apprentice League:

1. Best Apprentice - award for the best cosplay of the Apprentice league
2. Apprentice runner up - award for the second best cosplay of the Apprentice League
3. Audience favorite - audience award, can be the same person who has already won one of the mentioned categories

All contestants are requested to be present at Rikon during the award ceremony (Saturday evening).

The organizers and the panel of judges reserve the right to award more than one award, not to award an award from any category without explanation, or to award an award for something other than stated, depending on the circumstances, quantity and the quality of the contestants and the available budget.

The organizers and the panel of judges reserve the right to disqualify competitors in case of:

• Insufficient quality masks, unfinished masks or other circumstances that insult the efforts of other competitors.
• Abuse of social networks or audience voting systems in a way that directly or indirectly violates the right of all competitors to equal competition conditions,
• Insulting, violating privacy or harassing other competitors, visitors to the convention or the team of organizers, volunteers and the judging panel.
• That the contestants are closely related, i.e. in a conflict of interest with the persons in the judging panel of the competition.

The organizers and the panel of judges have the right to subsequently withdraw the prize (publicly and by returning the gift package) if it turns out that the competitor violated these conditions, i.e. intentionally violated the values of the competition and the right of all competitors to a fair and equal competition.

The competitor with the next highest number of points from the judging panel wins the prize in that case, if possible.

For all potential questions or ambiguities, you can contact cosplay@rikonrijeka.com