C3 - Cosplay Championships

2025 Qualifiers

 

The Cosplay City Championships (established in 2013) are handmade cosplay competitions.
Entry for the C3 competition for each event is in advance. There will be no entry on the day.

Prize categories

First Prize:
C3 Superstar - The overall competition winner of a qualifier.

Two runner-up places:
Forge Master - for best prop or armour work.
Fabric Master - for best sewing work.

If you enter as a pair or group, the prize will be split amongst you.

Winners of all these titles will enter the Finals of the C3 Cosplay Championship, which takes place at Epic Comic Con in the SEC
Glasgow on 6/7 September 2025. All winners receive Free weekend tickets to this event included in their prizes.


Qualifying Event: 8/9 March - Power Con
Qualifying Event: 26 Apr - Kaiju Con
Finals Event: 6/7 Sep - Epic Comic Con

REGISTRATION

Registration is free to enter. Entries for POWER CON are open from 6 Feb to 20 Feb 2025 unless spaces fill before the closing date. 

Enter via the form on our website LINKED HERE

Please ensure you read the rules before applying.

Disclaimer—By participating in Fan Frontier (hereon known as the Producer) events, you acknowledge that you
have read and agree to abide by the rules. The Producer can amend or update these rules at any time.

Eligibility

  • To compete, all participants must have a valid ticket to the event.

  • The competition is open to all cosplayers aged 15 and above.

  • Participants under 18 must have permission from their parents or guardians to compete. Appropriate photographic identification —e.g., passport, driving/provisional license, etc.- may be required as proof of age.

  • Solo participants or groups (up to 5 people) can apply.

  • Participants must wear the cosplay they have applied with unless otherwise reviewed and agreed upon by the producers.

  • Please respect fellow participants, staff, and attendees. Harassment, physical or verbal abuse, vandalism or theft, etc., will not be tolerated. It will result in automatic disqualification and possible ejection from the event.

  • All conditions must be met to participate.

    Costume eligibility

  • Costumes are permitted from any form of popular media. This includes, but is not limited to, comic books, films and television, video games, anime and manga, tabletop gaming, and original designs. Please provide a reference photo or image of the character or design in your application.

  • All costumes and props MUST be at least 70% handmade by the participating individual or group's participant member(s).

  • Help making your costume from friends or family must be declared during registration.

  • Shop-bought costumes are not accepted into the competition. If elements of your costume have been purchased but you believe you are still eligible, please contact cosplay@forthefans.uk to discuss them. (Bought wigs are permitted, but the participant must do alterations.)

  • Cosplays which have WON in any other competition, within the UK or internationally, are NOT permitted to enter.

  • Fan Frontier events are family-friendly. Costumes deemed offensive or inappropriate will be rejected.

  • If your costume has wheels, stilts, or large platforms, it MUST be declared so that it can be assessed in accordance with health and safety regulations.

  • Participants must be able to move in their cosplay unaided on stage. Cosplays cannot be put on or built while on stage.

Portfolio (Evidence)

What to include in your portfolio?

  • Collate your work into one PDF file.

  • Reference Photo—Include at least one full-body reference image of the character your cosplay is based on. Include no more than five reference images. Use the best resolution; this makes it easier to judge.

  • Progress photos - To show how you made it (i.e. sewing work, painting, wig work, fabric decisions, etc.)

  • Bullet point notes - Write some comments describing the build process alongside your progress photos (i.e. what you have done, techniques used, comments on decision-making/thought process, etc.).

  • Your PDF should be linked to your application form if it’s ready or emailed to us 10 days prior to the show. cosplay@forthefans.uk
    (for example, an upload link for Imgur, Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc.).

  • If parts of the costume are made by someone else, you may bring them into your judging slot.

Stage Time

You must be at the Cosplay desk 30 minutes before the on-stage competition starts for an information brief and to be taken to the stage.

The time limit for your performance is 2 minutes. Your time on stage can be less than this, but please do not exceed it (unless previously agreed with Cosplay Team in exceptional circumstances). There is no penalty for using less than the maximum time, however, points may be deducted for exceeding agreed time limits.

We encourage you to be as flamboyant as you wish during your time on stage. If you require a microphone for a spoken performance, then please make us aware of this in your application and let the Cosplay Desk know when you check in.

Please do not swear or use offensive language on stage, you risk being disqualified and banned from future events if you do so.

For the sake of health & safety, please do not throw or fire anything into the audience during your performance.

Please provide the music or soundtrack you require for your performance by including it as a YouTube link on the application form in the correct section or include an MP3 file via email to cosplay@forthefans.uk. Please also bring a copy on the day via USB stick as a backup. If you do not provide any specific music, then music will be provided by the Cosplay team, and if you do not want any music or soundtrack for your performance, then please make this clear on your form.

Judging

Participants will be judged by our specially selected cosplay judges who are experienced in the world of cosplaying! These judges will be selected due to their varied skills in the hopes of providing a balanced decision-making process.

Before the event, you will be given a pre-allocated time to attend the cosplay desk to sign in and begin the judging process. Our cosplay team will guide you through this when you arrive. If you do not arrive within the window of time allocated, then your entry will be withdrawn.

During pre-judging, the judges may ask questions about how elements of the costume were constructed. If parts of the costume were made by someone else, you may bring them into the pre-judging with you.

If you incorrectly declare elements of the costume to be hand-made or crafted by yourself then you will risk being disqualified from this competition, as well as future C3 competitions run by Fan Frontier and the Cosplay Team. This is to ensure the competition is as fair as possible.

Judges’ decisions are final and discussion about the decisions will not be entered into with any contestant or member of the public by the judging panel.

Prizes for the C3 competition will be awarded after the Cosplay parade has concluded. If the winners are not present, their prize will be held for them until they can collect it, or if need be, it can be posted to them. Prizes cannot be collected by another individual on their behalf unless signed permission is given by the contestant at the cosplay desk.

Should a contestant be found to have misled judges within 3 weeks of the competition, then an investigation will be held. Should they be disqualified, then they will be required to return any prizes received and, subsequently, these will be awarded to the next highest scoring contestant. Any issues that arise after this three-week period will be taken into consideration for future events, but no action will be taken with regard to the return of prizes, etc. However, contestants found to have misled the judging panel risk being banned from participating in any future C3 competitions.

Copyright

You may be filmed or photographed during the C3 Cosplay Competition and Fan Frontier Ltd. or its associates may wish to use these images for publication & marketing etc. By entering the competition, you are agreeing to your image being used by Fan Frontier Ltd. and affiliates for advertising and promotional purposes and any other reasonable purpose.

Terms & Conditions

The Producers reserve the copyright of all photography and video.

  • You may be filmed or photographed during the C3 Cosplay Competition and Fan Frontier events. By participating, you grant Fan Frontier the use of these images for publication, marketing, advertising, promotional purposes, and any other reasonable purpose in print and digital media.

  • Digital application forms and/or reference pictures cannot be returned under any circumstances. Please keep your own copy for reference.

  • Personal information collected via the application form will be used for no purpose outside of the competition.

  • All personal information collected via the application form will be stored securely and will not be provided to any third party. Application forms will be deleted once the event is complete, which is an annual cycle.

  • Any application form found to contain false information will be removed from the selection process. Any cosplayer selected based on false information will be forbidden from participating in the event and may be banned from future competitions.

  • The Producer accepts no liability for any loss, damage, costs, expenses, or claims suffered or incurred by any person due to any use of or inability to use this application process, the event website, or any related media content. The applicant and/or parents/guardian must confirm with the Producer any queries or questions they may have about application, selection, and/or participation.

  • The Producers are not responsible for Technical faults/failures (such as, but not limited to, sound file issues, network problems, disconnections, etc.), inaccurate information/printing issues / typographic errors, or human or technical errors that result in lost or corrupted communications/files. If this occurs, reapplication can be discussed.