Masquerade – Welcome to Philcon 2023

Starting at 8:00 PM Saturday night in Grand Ballroom A

Director: Abigail Welsher
Assistant Director: Venus Carey
Green Room Manager: Alexander Welsher
Presentation Judges: Rob Carlos, Josh Harmon, and Jaime Peddicord
Workmanship Judge: Tina Connell
Judges’ Clerk: Esmeralda Rodriguez
MC: Michael A. Ventrella

Here at Philcon, attendees and participants are encouraged to show their fellow fans their costumes on stage and compete for awards from our judges. No experience is needed; we’ll show you the ropes and help you on and off stage. There will be experienced judges to review entries on stage and, optionally, workmanship judging on the costumes’ technical work. Registration and attendance at rehearsal is required to appear on stage.

We welcome recreation costumes and cosplay from all media sources (sci-fi, fantasy, anime, etc.) as well as original designs and historical recreations. There will also be official photography taken of all entrants’ costumes in the Green Room.

Entrants’ Registration

Registration forms are available at the masquerade registration desk across from the dealer’s room entrance on Friday from 3:00 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. All members of each entry must check in at the masquerade registration desk during those periods and each individual must sign a release form. All entries must sign up for a tech rehearsal slot and attend rehearsal in Grand Ballroom A between 3:30 and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Further information for entrants along with the registration form is available for download using the buttons at the bottom of this page.

Categories and Skill Divisions

Our masquerade uses the entry categories and skill divisions recommended by the International Costumers’ Guild.

Entry Categories:

Re-creation costumes are duplicates or design adaptations of the published work of someone other than the contestant. Their design is copied from a film, TV show, live production, comic, art, or other medium. Anime cosplay falls into this category.
Original Design costumes are works that are designed by the entrant, even is it is inspired by an SF, fantasy, myth, or other source. Even if from a book, if the designer had no visual reference, then it counts as original.

Skill Divisions: Skill divisions protect new costumers from having to compete with experienced costumers. If you’re not sure which division to enter in, please ask. Philcon’s skill divisions are as follows:

Young Fan: An entrant under 13 years of age on the day of the masquerade (i.e., born before November 18, 2010) and not part of an adult entry may enter the Young Fan division. This division is for costumes designed and/or made by the young fan, either in their entirety or with assistance from adults. A young fan may choose to enter one of the adult categories.
Novice: This division is for costumers 13 years of age and older with beginner level skills.
Journeyman: This division is for any entrant with some experience and can no longer be considered a beginner or who has competed and won in the Novice or Journeyman division at a previous event.
Craftsman/Master: This division is for professional costumers with an advanced level of skill or any entrant who has competed and won in the Craftsman or Master division at previous event.

Group entries should compete at the level of the group’s most experienced member(s). Any entrant may choose to compete in a division that expects higher skill levels, if they so choose.

The young fan entries will appear first during the masquerade and the judges will immediately make their decisions before the adult entries appear on stage

Judging

The judges will consider both entry categories and skill divisions in making their awards. The Philcon masquerade’s philosophy is “excellence deserves award”; there are no predetermined minimum or maximum number of awards the judges may make. The judges’ deliberations usually take some time, during which a half-time show will be presented. Afterwards, both workmanship and presentation awards will be announced and presented to the winners.

There are two stages of judging for the competition:
Workmanship Judging: The workmanship judge will be in the green room before the actual show to evaluate the details and work quality on the full costumes or parts of costumes. This is where exquisite attention to detail may be recognized. The workmanship judge’s decisions are entirely separate from those of the presentation judges and are optional for entrants.
Presentation Judging: The judges will be seated at the front of the audience watching the entries as they present their costumes. They will look at the costumes themselves, as well as how they work with the movement, music, and/or script. If you do not wish to be judged, you may enter “not in competition”.

Fan Photography

During the show, members of the audience may take photos from their seats, WITHOUT FLASH. As you exit the stage, there may be a separate “fan photo” area in the hall or lobby. Your participation in these photos is strictly optional.

For the safety of those on stage, use of flash photography from the audience during the show is strictly prohibited. The Masquerade Director will stop the show and have the house lights turned on until those using flash have been ejected from the ballroom.