Purr-Formance Competition

Nekocon Purr-Formance Competition

Welcome to the new NekoCon Purr-Formance Competition!

Formally known as the Masquerade, the Purr-Formance competition is a competition for performance based cosplayers who may also like to compete in Craftsmanship. Read carefully because some information and rules may have changed.

What can I expect when I sign up for NekoCon’s Purr-Formance Competition?

Friendly and helpful staff, of course! The basics: our staff will help you through signing up, craftsmanship judging (if you wish to have your costume evaluated by our panel of experts!), and coordinating both the Full Dress Rehearsal on Saturday morning and the program itself on Saturday evening.

What are the awards?

Awards will be given for the following:

Best Craftsmanship and Performance in each level (Youth, Beginner, Novice, Journeyman, and Master)
Overall Best Craftsmanship
Cosplay Staff Award
Best in Show

Judges and Cosplay Staff may wish to add their own special awards for outstanding entrants.

What category am I in?

Here are the descriptions of our categories:

Youth – Any entrant aged 13 years and younger. For safety reasons, children under the age of 8 cannot be allowed on the stage during the Cosplay for any reason, unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Entrants between the ages of 8 and 13 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian backstage who has a valid NekoCon admission badge.

Beginner- Any Cosplayer who has never competed in any competition before.

Novice – Any cosplayer who has won 2 or fewer awards.

Intermediate – Any Cosplayer who has won 3 – 5 awards.

Advanced – Any Cosplayer who has won 6 or more awards.

If you have a group, determine who has the highest skill level and use that when registering.

Example 1: You have a group of 4 Novices and 1 Intermediate. You will be entered at Intermediate level.

Example 2: You have 3 Advanced and one Novice in your group. You will be entered at Advanced level.

There’s a Dress Rehearsal? How much of a commitment am I going to have to make?!

Here are the commitments you need to make in order to do the cosplay competition:

Signing up! This is a short process you can do online or on-site. Spots are limited, so we encourage signing up online. (More info below.)
If you wish to have your costumes judged for their craftsmanship, you must show up to craftsmanship judging during any of the open judging hours. This will be a commitment of approximately 20 minutes total. (Information on costumes eligible for craftsmanship, and judging rules can be found below.)
Showing up for your assigned Full Dress Rehearsal time. This shouldn’t take too long as long as you are adequately prepared and everyone shows up on time! (Rules & info below.)
Attending the Purr-Formance Competition, where you’ll show off your costumes to the con!

How can I sign up?

Due to the popularity of the NekoCon Purr-Formance Competition we have moved to an application process. Online applications will open on July 29 and close on September 1.

We will be accepting approximately 25 entries prior to the convention. These entries will be selected by a panel of NekoCon staffers. Any entry not accepted will be added to a waitlist. Should any of the 25 entries drop prior to the competition we will reach out to the waitlisted entries.

The application will be found here. It will not be open until July 29, 2026.

On-site at the convention there will be an additional five (5) slots open. These slots will be first come, first served. In order to get one of these slots please visit the Cosplay Contest Information table on the Friday of the convention. The table will open at 10 am.

An application process!? How can I give myself the best chance of being accepted?

Provide as much information about your entry as possible! Surprises are for the audience, not the cosplay staff. The more we know about your performance the better. This also tells us that you have put an ample amount of preparation into your entry and will likely lead to an excellent skit that the judges and audience will adore.

While we do allow media types from cultures outside of Japan, if it comes down to a very hard decision, preference may be shown to media of anime or manga origin.

If you have any questions about how to put in the best possible application, please feel free to email us: cosplay@nekocon.com

What do I need for Dress Rehearsal?

There will be a mandatory Full Dress Rehearsal for the Cosplay Saturday morning. This will take place between the hours of 9:00am – 12:00pm in Main Events. Time slots will be given out on a first come, first served basis at con during check in. Check in occurs between 10 am and 6 pm on Friday of the convention and on Saturday between 9 am and 9:30 am.

We will NOT give rehearsal times to non group members, a representative of the group must show up to receive their judging time unless first discussed with the Head of Cosplay before Saturday via email: cosplay@nekocon.com.

There are no exceptions. All skits must be performed in their entirety, in full costume, and with all props, and will be reviewed by the Cosplay coordinators. You will be given ample time to work out any necessary additional details with the Tech Crew. You are expected to arrive on time for your rehearsal time slot as there is a lot of information to give out and go over. Please remember that presenting any skit during the competition that differs from what you present in rehearsal may result in disqualification.

Tech Crew will only accept files via USB. We cannot use your personal iTunes/music/media/spotify accounts to draw music from. Make sure you have previewed your sound before bringing your USB to the convention and that you’ve limited your audio to the time allotted to your group size. Tech Crew is not responsible for balancing your sound once you give them the USB, they simply put it in and press play at the proper time. We are not responsible for loss of files or USB. Please only have your act’s music file on the USB, and have your file appropriately labeled. Do not email your music, and do not send us youtube links.

While they will do their best, the Tech Crew cannot guarantee that any special requests for lighting & tech effects will be able to be accommodated.

Failure to attend the Rehearsal, arriving after 9:30am on Saturday to get a time slot, or arriving late for your assigned time slot can and will result in the disqualification of you and/or your group from the competition. If you become aware of an issue beyond your control, please reach out to the cosplay coordinator so that we can work with you to get you on that stage. We want you to be able to compete! If you simply cannot make it, we appreciate being told if you need to cancel. Please note that if you have NekoCon Staffers on your team, make sure that they are not scheduled to work on Saturday as Rehearsal, Costume Craftsmanship Judging, and the competition itself will take up the vast majority of the day. Due to the large number of entrants, we will not be able to accommodate special requests for scheduling.

Rehearsal times are unlikely to change. In the rare event they do, this will be emailed to every contestant and posted in the following locations at the convention: Operations, Info Desk, Registration, and Main Programming.

General Purr-Formance Competition Rules

The Cosplay Coordinator has the final say in any issues that may arise and reserves the right to change rules at any time, with no prior notice. They may reject any skit that they feel breaks the convention or competition rules, but will work with you to the best of their abilities to get you on stage. That’s where they want you, after all! Please remember that their main priorities are to ensure the safety of the entrants and to see that the Cosplay Contests go as smoothly as possible.
Attempts to bribe, or influence the judges in your favor in any way will result in disqualification.
Poor sportsmanship is grounds for disqualification from the competition and will result in your being banned from future NekoCon contests. Be a gracious contestant, win or lose. Ultimately, you’re here to have fun! Additionally, bullying another contestant, or cosplay staff member is strictly prohibited. If the contest coordinator finds out that bullying has occurred, the bully will be disqualified. Be kind to your fellow contestants.
Skits, performances, or costumes that have won a major award at another competition are not eligible for awards. Failure to disclose a winning skit could result in being banned from future NekoCon completions. A major award is described as a “best” or “first place” award. Lying to cosplay staff about your skit’s eligibility (including cosplay judges) is grounds for disqualification from future NekoCon contests. If you’re unsure about an award, please email us at cosplay@nekocon.com.
No entries may contain religious, political, insulting or offensive statements. We utilize the following definition of offensive cosplays: cosplays that incite violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, transphobia, ageism, and bigotry. This includes race-facing (e.g. blackface/brownface/yellowface) as well as costumes that replicate or make light of historic or current international or national tragedies (this includes depictions of the coronavirus in any way).
You must be a registered attendee of NekoCon to participate. NekoCon Staff and Volunteers are eligible to participate. NekoCon Cosplay staff are ineligible to compete.
Follow all venue and convention rules and guidelines.

Performance/Skit Rules:

Time limits for each group are as follows:
1 person = 1 minute
2-4 people = 2 minutes
5-8 people = 3 minutes
Handlers, parents/guardians, and prop assistants do not count towards your time limit. For safety reasons, there are to be no more than 8 people on stage at any given time.
Sound rules: Tech Crew will only accept files via USB. We cannot use your personal iTunes/music/media/spotify accounts to draw music from. Make sure you have previewed your sound before bringing your USB to the convention and that you’ve limited your audio to the time allotted to your group size. Tech Crew is not responsible for balancing your sound once you give them the USB, they simply put it in and press play at the proper time. We are not responsible for loss of files or USB. Please only have your act’s music file on the USB, and have your file appropriately labeled. Do not email your music, and do not send us youtube links.
All entries MUST perform their skit entirely in costume at rehearsal. Failure to do so will result in disqualification and being barred from performing in the “Purr-Formance” Competition stage show.
While we all do enjoy a good martial arts sequence, we must insist that your act does not include any action that would put yourself or others at risk for injury or harm. This includes brandishing weapons. If your presentation absolutely requires any of these things, you must clear it with the Cosplay coordinators at Rehearsal. Remember, there will probably be fragile equipment on the stage, and if you break it, we’re sending you the bill. We are not responsible for injury or harm at the competition
On stage props must be assembled before you get on stage, or assembled in less than a minute. Stage props must be stable if standing alone or be held up by a group member. NekoCon Cosplay staff will not be responsible for holding up your props. Everything brought on stage by your group must leave the stage with the group in a timely fashion.
There will be no use of projectiles, glitter, silly string, bubbles, or balloons on stage. Limited use of streamers and similar stage effects that can be easily and entirely cleaned up upon your group’s exit from stage is permitted with approval from the Contest Coordinator.
Costumes must follow the venue and event guidelines. Intentional flashing of any kind will result in the immediate disqualification of you and/or your entire group, and possible removal from the convention.
No foul language please! Usage of any foul, or abusive language is grounds for instant disqualification and removal from the Cosplay area.
Presenting a skit in rehearsal that greatly differs from the skit you perform in the Purr-Formance Stage Show show is grounds for disqualification. We do not mean making mistakes, we understand that things happen. We mean the rewriting of a skit without prior cosplay staff authorization. If you need to change your skit after rehearsal, please talk to a cosplay staffer for permission.

What do I need for my costume to be judged for Craftsmanship?

All entrants who wish to compete in the Costume Craftsmanship portion of the Purr-Formance Competition must first register for the Competition as either a skit or a walk-on. Craftsmanship registration forms can be filled in at check-in on Friday or Saturday, and Craftsmanship judging will be on a first come, first served basis at the convention itself. Craftsmanship judging happens at Cosplay Contest central on the first floor of the convention center next to the Cosplay Repair Station. Please see the map for more details. If you want your costume to be judged but do not want to walk on stage or perform a skit, consider entering the From Scratch Craftsmanship Competition. If you wish to enter both contests, you may, but you must do so with different costumes.

Purr-Formance Contest Craftsmanship Rules:

You will need to register for the Purr-Formance Competition before you can register for Craftsmanship Judging. Craftsmanship registration forms will be available at the Cosplay check-in.
All participants must have reference pictures of their costume character; without proper reference material, the judges cannot assess the accuracy of a costume. Please bring build books, printouts, manga, art books, or any other form of reference material to your assigned Craftsmanship Judging time for the Judges to use to aid them in their task. Genderbent versions of characters are permitted.

Craftsmanship judging will take place before the Competition stage show and is the responsibility of the contestant to complete. No time slots will be given, contestants must come register for craftsmanship at Cosplay Contest Central and return during any of our craftsmanship judging hours. The location of the Judging will be in the Cosplay Contest Central in room 101.
There will be no extension of craftsmanship judging hours to accommodate any contestant. It is your responsibility to come during craftsmanship judging hours. No exceptions.
Craftsmanship is the assessment of the costumer's skill at making a costume.
Any costume that consists mostly of bought items will not be considered for craftsmanship judging (ie. buying regular street clothes that require no alterations). Only 20% of your costume may consist of bought items (undergarments, wig, shoes, etc). 80% must be created by you.
If you commissioned your costume, it will not be considered for craftsmanship judging. You cannot receive credit for another person's work. Costumes made by another individual can be eligible for judging if the creator is present for craftsmanship judging. Any award won will be presented to the creator, not the model.
Questions about this should be addressed to cosplay@nekocon.com.
Costumes that have won any major award previously for craftsmanship are not eligible for further craftsmanship awards without extensive changes that are cleared by competition staff. A major award is classified as “best in show”, “best in Category”, “1st place”, “best craftsmanship/workmanship” ect... If you have not competed in a winning costume in performance or have not won any performance awards you can still compete in the “Purr-formance Competition", but not the craftsmanship portion. If you have a question about your costume’s eligibility please email cosplay@nekocon.com.
Cosplayers competing in the Craftsmanship competition will be entered as the same level as their Performance entry. We will not split levels, meaning if you are advanced in performance but novice at craftsmanship you will compete at an advanced level.
The use of A.I. to falsify construction images in a build book is considered cheating and is grounds for immediate disqualification.
Absolutely no filming is permitted in the judging room.
The Judges’ rule is final. If you would like feedback on your costume, you are welcome to come to feedback on Sunday!