Rules for participating in the Cosplay Show

1. Only costumes that haven’t been shown in any other Bulgarian cosplay competitions can participate.

2. The costumes must be based on a licensed character from anime, manga, video game, western movies/series, cartoons or comic books ( in other words fan art version of characters or own designs are not allowed. Gender bend cosplays are also not allowed - where for example the costume is for a male character with pants is transformed to a female character with a dress. Crossplay is allowed as long as the costume is kept the same as the original. AI generated characters are not permitted. ).

Costumes that are purchased directly from sites like Aliexpress, dokidokicos and the like are prohibited. In other words, costumes that are purchased from mass-produced sites are not allowed. Costumes that are made in a "factory" will no longer be able to participate. Clarification: participation is not limited if you have ordered your costume to be made by another person. As long as the costume is made by a person (tailor, another cosplayer), and not by a mass-produced factory, then you can participate (but you are not competing for prizes). For this rule it will be necessary to send some progress photos of how the costume was made.

3. All participants with a gaming cosplay ( a costume from a game ) will showcase their performance during the first day of the event, which is Saturday. All other cosplayers (other than gaming) will be performing on Sunday. Performing with gaming costume on Sunday is prohibited, so is performing with any other type of costume (than gaming) on Saturday. If your character appears in both an anime/manga/movie etc. and a video game with the same costume, you can choose in which day you want to participate.

4. All willing to participate will go through evaluation, before the actual event, based on the complexity of the costume and stage performance. You will not be able to attend the competition if your cosplay is way too simple – jeans, shirt, neko ears, ready bought spandex cosplay – for example.

New rule: The number of repeated costumes is limited to 3. If there are more willing participants who want to make the same costume, a maximum of 3 will be selected. 

5. The cosplay show will be with а limited amount of participants.  The order of registration ( when the form was sent and how many people have already registered ) does not matter and all willing to participate will be reviewed. In other words the registration is not until all spots are filled, but all registrations are accepted and then reviewed to choose the best ones. Keep in mind that this year we will be reducing a little bit the number of accepted participants, so that we can accommodate the appropriate time for prejudging. So make sure to select more interesting and complex costumes!

6. All participants will be informed personally if they are accepted to participate or not withing 4 days after the deadline.

7. You can participate on stage as a solo cosplay ( just yourself ) or with a group of people (two, three or more).

8. Participants can choose if they want to have a performance ( a dance, talking with a microphone, short stage play and so on ) or just walk on the stage, fashion show style.

9. Each participant will have limited time to showcase his/her cosplay.

- Solo cosplays without any stage performance will have up to 30 seconds.

- Those who are Solo, but have a stage performance, will have 1:30 minutes.

- Those who are two people together and also have performance will again have 1:30 minutes.

- Those who are three people together and also have performance will have 2:00 minutes

- Groups with 3 or more people will have 2:30 minutes.

10. All cosplayers approved for the cosplay show will get free 2 day passes for Aniventure Comic Con. The passes will be for 1 person, reserved with his/her name. If a participant has an assistants, the assistant will have to buy their own ticket. Cosplayers which weren’t approved for the review can showcase their costume freely within the two days of the event, but they have to buy a ticket.

11. There cannot be any pyrotechnical devices or substances on the stage on Aniventure Comic Con, as well as sharp swords, knifes or anything similar. The participants cannot throw any objects (balls, shuriken, arrows) at the audience. Nakama reserves the right to disqualify any participant from the review if his performance is judged to be harmful to the audience.

12. For the show to have a maximum effect all participants are forbidden from showing their costumes in the halls of the convention prior to the review. Once you enter the dressing room and put your costume/make up participants can not leave while wearing their costume until the review is over.

13. You can sign up for the review by filling in the form for participants. You can see the form at the bottom of this page.

14. Nakama reserves the right to change these rules without a notice. The rules are published on our website and all participant must be familiar with them. Signing up for Aniventure Comic Con  is a written agreement with the rules.

15. Taking pictures/videos in the dressing rooms without the knowledge of staff members is forbidden.

16. Signing up for the cosplay review in Aniventure Comic Con  confirms the agreement of any participant to be photographed or filmed on video for marketing use by Nakama.

17. Similar to last year, you will notice that the registration form does not collect information and links to multimedia for stage performances. To make it easier for participants, we have decided to again collect it AFTER you have been accepted for participation. But it is important to clarify that a new rule will be added to it: the use of voices generated with AI is NOT allowed. You must use either an original voice from the source of your costume, or make a recording with your own voice. Let's not forget that it is not just a costume, it is also a play!

18. All participants who wish to compete for awards will have to prepare a mandatory portfolio. This portfolio will be sent in advance to the foreign jury, so that they can get acquainted with the costumes, get a better idea of the level of the costumes in Bulgaria and have the opportunity to evaluate them more easily and quickly on site. The requirements for the portfolio are as follows:
- it must be one file in PDF format (per person, if you are a group - a separate file for each person)
- on the first page there must be a full-size photo of the reference character
- on the second page there must be a photo of the finished costume that you are waring yourself (a costume that is placed on a mannequin, hanger, sofa, etc. is not allowed)
- on the following pages, photos of the progress of the production must be provided. It can include only photos, it can also include text with a description. If there is text, it must be in English. There is no limit to the number of pages.
- the portfolio must be submitted by June 28th.

Deadlines

1. The deadline for registering for Aniventure Comic Con cosplay review is the 21st of June 2026.

2. Up until the 21st of June 2026 all participants must send a picture of the finished costume. Only finishing touches will be allowed to be done after that. Costumes that are barely started will not be permitted to attend the review. We will appreciate any participants that sign up earlier than the final date and send pictures of the finished costume later, but not later than the deadline. Please make sure the pictures are with a high quality, as they will be presented to the Cosplay Judges of the event.

Awards

1. Aniventure Comic Con awards will be given for the following categories, which apply for both cosplay competitions:

- Best Resemblance to the Original – an award for best resemblance to the original character. The costume, the look of the cosplayer, and their stage performance are all taken into account here. Prizes in this category will 500 euro for gaming day and 500 euro for anime/movie day.

- Best Costume – an award for the costume that has the best resemblance to the original costume. What is taken into account here is only how complex and well crafted the costume is, the look of the cosplayer is not. Prizes in this category will be 360 euro for gaming day and 360 euro for anime/movie day .

- Best performance – This category awards the most charismatic cosplayer which appealed the most to the jury and the audience and gave the best show. Prizes in this category will be  150 euro for gaming day and 150 euro for anime/movie day.

- International qualification for Pop Culture Hiroshima https://aniventure.net/bg/contests/pop-culture-hiroshima

- International qualification for YuniCon Tournament of Champions https://aniventure.net/bg/contests/yunicon-toc

- International qualification for Cosplay Champions https://aniventure.net/bg/contests/cosplay-champions

- International qualification for ECG https://aniventure.net/bg/contests/ecg

- Geek Con https://aniventure.net/bg/contests/geek-con

- Best Armor - Award for best crafted armor. The assessment is based on the complexity, detail, ingenuity, efficiency and scale of the work. Prizes - themеd materials for making cosplay provided by the specialized shop https://cosplayshop.be

- Best Prop - Awarded for the best weapons, accessories or decorations to go with the costume. The assessment is based on the complexity, detail, ingenuity, efficiency and scale of the work. Only props handmade by the participant are contested. Prizes - themеd materials for making cosplay provided by the specialized shop https://cosplayshop.be

- Best make-up - award for the most complex and spectacular make-up. The category also includes the manufacture of special prostheses used to change the shape of the face or body. Prizes - themеd materials for making cosplay provided by the specialized shop https://cosplayshop.be

A point system is being introduced to determine the winners. It will be as follows:

50 points craft/sewing - includes how closely the costume is made to the original, how complex the original is, how clean the workmanship is, how high the quality of the workmanship is, what techniques were used, etc. Clarification: it is not necessary to use all techniques to get the maximum number of points in this category. It is enough to use just one, but it must be well-crafted.

20 points “styling” - processing wigs, use of special makeup or prosthetics, mechanization of the costume, lighting of the costume, props (weapons and objects directly related to the character's costume), mobility of the costume. Clarification: it is not necessary to use all techniques to get the maximum number of points in this category. It is enough to use just one, but it must be well-crafted.

30 points stage presentation - quality of multimedia, acting, creativity of performance.

Bonus 5 points for a distinctive element - an extremely impressive and unexpected element in the costume or performance.

Form for signing up for the Cosplay Review

If you are participating along with other people in a group, only the organizer of the group must fill in the form. The first page of the form is for info about the organizer, and the seconds page of the form is for info for the other members.

If you wish to participate in the Gaming cosplay show, please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/zbozhq3Fti68737aA

If you wish to participate in the Anime/Movie cosplay show, please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/99iu9ZkLNkVB9FU47

If you wish to participate in both, then you need to fill out BOTH forms.

For  questions email   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: All qualified participants from the city of Sofia will have to plan to attend general rehearsals on Friday the 10th of July from 10:00 to 20:00. Please note, as there will be a lot of participants who are working, that it will not be possible for everyone to rehearse after 18:00. If necessary, please plan a vacation day from work, so that you may rehearse during the day. We will not be able to guarantee that people who arrive for rehearsals after 18:00 will be able to go on stage. Participants that are not from Sofia can choose to rehearse on Friday OR in the morning of the cosplay show for which they qualified.