SageFen Maker Fest Masquerade Rules:

Eligibility:

  1. All participants must be registered members of SageFen Maker Fest.
  2. Participants must agree to read and follow all SageFen Maker Fest Masquerade rules and regulations.
  3. By registering for the masquerade contest, all participants agree to allow SageFen Maker Fest to use their images for promotional purposes, including all photographs and video. A parental signature is required for participants under the age of 18.

How to Enter:

  1. Participants can pick up entries at the convention from the masquerade table, information table, or masquerade staff.
  2. Entries may be turned in at the convention at the masquerade table, or directly to masquerade staff or the masquerade director. All entries must be turned in no later than 1pm Saturday.
  3. Please fill out and return a Photo Consent Form at the Masquerade Tech rehearsal.

General Information:

  1. SageFen Maker Fest is a family friendly event. Content should not go beyond PG-13.
  • No Offensive language of any kind will be tolerated.
  • NO NUDITY – real or implied. All costumes must meet SageFen Maker Fest’s dress code policy.
  • No illegal weapons of any kind. All other weapons must be piece bonded and the participant must agree to adhere to SageFen Maker Fest’s weapon policy.

     2. For Safety reasons the following are not allowed:

  • No Pyrotechnics or projectiles of any kind.
  • No live animals except service animals are permitted.
  • No messy substances- wet, dry, or oily- that may damage another participant’s costume or hotel space including the stage.
  • No jumping on or off the stage. Use the official stage entrances and exits.

     3.  All costumes with electric power need to be self-contained. There will be no access to electrical outlets on stage.
     4. All special effects (ex. strobe lights, fog, etc.) must be approved by the Masquerade director prior to the masquerade. The Masquerade director has the right to deny requests due to safety concerns or building regulations.
     5. Surprise the audience, not the Masquerade staff. If you are planning something completely different, let us know well in advance. All information will be held in the strictest confidence.
     6. Attendance at the Saturday afternoon rehearsal is mandatory. Come to your rehearsal prepared.
     7. Purchased or rented costumes, or costumes that have won Best in Show or Best in Class awards in a Worldcon or Costume-Con may not be judged for workmanship, but may be entered for stage presentation.
     8. All costumes must be finished prior to the tech rehearsal and judging. Final assembly of large costumes and props and or unexpected, emergency repairs will be allowed.
     9. No costume that has been judged in a prior year for workmanship may be judged again without a significant change. Only the new change to the costume will be judged.
    10. Entrants are presumed to be adults, or under the supervision of one. All judge’s decisions are final. Small children must be under the control of a responsible adult at all times.

The Masquerade Director has the right to eliminate any entry from the competition on the basis of taste, danger to the audience, building or you, violation of any of the above rules, or any other reason deemed sufficient. There will be no appeal.

Divisions:
To ensure that Entrants with limited experience do not compete with those Entrants with more experience, skill divisions have been established as such:

  • Young Fan: Costumers 12 and younger. This is our children’s masquerade. All young participants must have adult supervision. Costumes worn by a Young Fan that are designed and built entirely by an adult should be entered for workmanship judging in the adult’s appropriate Skill Division, though the entry is still eligible for Young Fan presentation awards.
  • Novice: Costumers with limited Masquerade experience, first time performers, and anyone who has never won a Competitive Award (Best in Show, Best in Division) or two or more Major Awards in a Masquerade.
  • Journeyman: Costumers with significant costume and/or stage experience. A winner of a Competitive Award (Best in Show, Best in Division) or two or more Major Awards in a Masquerade competes as a Journeyman. An entrant who has won numerous major awards in the Novice Division in competitions of similar scope (Comic Cons, Anime Conventions) is encouraged to enter in the Journeyman Division at SageFen Maker Fest.
  • Master: Skilled costumers with extensive experience, several awards, professional actors or persons who make their living making clothing or costumes compete as a Master. An entrant who has won more than three major awards in the Journeyman Division in a competition of equal or larger scope should compete as a Master.

For group entries, the division should be that of the highest-ranking member of the group. For very large groups, please ask the Masquerade Director for assistance in choosing a division. Winning ‘Best of Show’ at any large regional convention moves a costumer up to the next skill division. Judges Choice awards or Workmanship awards do not count as best of class awards.

Judging:

There are two main areas of the Masquerade, Costume judging (or workmanship) and Stage Competition. All entrants will have a stage presentation, either walk-on or skit. Presentations are limited to one minute. Presentation music or special narration can be pre-recorded on usb drive. For the Stage Competition, costumers will be judged on the effect of their costume as well as their stage presentation. For the Workmanship Competition, costumers will be judged on their skill in the construction of their costume. If you are recreating another costume from another source (anime, book covers, movie chars, etc.) please bring a copy picture of the source image. Workmanship judging is optional, and will be done before the stage competition.

Tech Rehearsal:

Tech rehearsals & run-throughs will take place Saturday in the room that the masquerade will be held in. We want everyone to have the best possible presentation. Please expect that your time on-stage will be limited to no more than 1 minute so that everyone has an opportunity. Any interaction with the MC needs to be noted in the script you provide. If you want the MC to read a description of your costume, please write out exactly what you want the MC to read. A written pronunciation should be provided for any made-up or fantasy words. Please be on time and come prepared to your Tech Rehearsal. (This means you need to have figured out your general presentation before you come to the Tech Rehearsal.) Depending on the number of entrants, we may have limited time to spend with each costumer, and want to give each one our full attention.

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