Welcome to the Norwescon Virtual Masquerade!
We have two competitive masquerade events this year! If you would like to learn about the parallel online costume contest—being offered for the benefit of costumers who can’t attend in-person in 2022—read on! If you are interested in participating in the in-person event at Norwescon, please see the in-person Masquerade page.
The Norwescon virtual masquerade is open to all convention members of all costuming skill levels. It will be following the International Costumers’ Guild guidelines for rules and skill levels, adapted for virtual use. The online contest will be streamed via Norwescon’s online presence on Saturday, April 16th (exact time TBD) and a “highlight reel” of the winners will air as a part of the regular masquerade.
Registration
To register for the Norwescon 44 virtual masquerade, please review the information below and then complete this registration form. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 1.
Masquerade contestants must be registered members of Norwescon 44 (virtual or in-person) in order to participate in the virtual event.
Members may enter both the virtual and the in-person contests, but must feature different costumes in each contest, and in order to enter the in-person contest, you must have a full (in-person) membership to the event.
Masquerade Judging
As we understand that not all participants will want to submit videos of themselves, we are allowing people to enter themselves for workmanship judging, presentation judging, or both.
Presentation judging consists of your presentation on video. The judges will consider everything from your costume’s appearance on video, how you act and move, your music and voiceovers, and so on. The judge’s awards will be divided by skill levels and excellence of performance within those skill levels.
Workmanship judging allows the judges to consider exceptional accomplishment in crafting costumes, props, and accessories. This is the place where exquisite attention to detail may be recognized. Re-creation costumes (a costume whose design is copied from a film, television show, theatrical presentation, book illustration, comic, work of art, or other medium) must provide a color picture of the original with their entry. If you wish to participate in this category, please include closeup images of your costumes and props.
Norwescon Masquerade Skill Divisions
Contestants must pick a skill division for their entry. The skill division for a group presentation should be determined by aligning it with the highest skill division present among the individual members. If a group has four novices and one master, it must compete in the Master division.
The Rising Star division is for any contestant 13 years of age or younger who is not part of an adult group. Rising Star costumes must be made by the entrant with no more than a minimum amount of supervisory help. An adult-made costume may not be entered in this category and should instead be entered in the appropriate skill division of the adult.
The other competitive classes are Novice, Journeyman, and Master. Please consult this flowchart (235 KB .pdf) to determine your division. Anyone may choose to compete in a higher division than that which is recommended by this chart if they wish, but a contestant cannot compete in a lower division. If you have any questions, email masquerade@norwescon.org.
The masquerade director has the right to change your skill division if they think it apt.
Awards
Awards are made at the judges’ discretion. The traditional awards are Best In Class (Workmanship), Best in Class (Presentation) for the skill divisions outside of Rising Star, and Best in Show. Other awards are determined as the judges see fit.
Norwescon Masquerade Rules
Please review these rules carefully. Violation of any rule will disqualify an entry. Please help us make the masquerade safe and enjoyable.
- We expect your entry to be compliant to Norwescon’s Policies and Guidelines, including our Costuming Policy.
- No cultural appropriation. Cultures are not costumes.
- No black face, brown face, yellow face, or red face is permitted.
- No Nazi or Nazi-esque imagery is permitted.
- The masquerade is PG-13. Lack of costume is not a costume.
- Purchased or rented costumes may not be entered in competition. Credit must be given for all makeup and costume construction.
- Video submissions must be kept no longer than 30 seconds for smaller groups/individuals and 1 minute for larger groups. If there is a reason you think you need a longer amount of time, it must be approved by the masquerade director.
- Videos should be shot horizontally (landscape) in 720p minimum (1080p preferred) and 30 frames per second.
- Sound accompaniment should be included with your application. Please provide high quality audio files that are ready to be played as-is, without additional editing. Your entry will be streamed so your music must be royalty free. Some recommended sites for this are epidemicsound and bensound.
If you have questions please contact us 14 days in advance.
Last but not least, the Masquerade Director has the final say.
Questions or comments? Please contact Special Events through our contact page.