Comic-COn 2025 Masquerade Calls For Costume Entries!
This year’s Masquerade on-stage costume competition (or cosplay competition for those who favor that term), a tradition at the convention since 1974, will be Saturday evening, July 26, starting at 8:30 PM. The event celebrates not only the importance of costuming to the popular arts, but also the amazing costume creations that our attendees create and bring to the convention. The costume presentations, intermission entertainment, and then awards presentation will run about two and ½ hours and be set in the San Diego Convention Center’s 3,900-seat Ballroom 20, with overflow seating available and large projection screens in the Sails Pavilion and in a second ballroom.
Not a dance or party as the name may imply, it is similar to the style of a talent show, set on a large stage in front of an audience, presenting amazing costumes crafted by our non-professional but still highly creative and talented attendees. Most costumes will be impressive re-creations from movies, television, anime, comic books, fantasy art, Broadway shows, and video games; others will be completely original designs from the imagination. Some entries will be solo costumes; others will be groups with a shared theme, and no purchased costumes are allowed. There is no additional cost to participate, or to have a seat in the audience, for anyone with a Comic-Con badge valid for Saturday.
Why do we title this event the Masquerade instead of simply a costume contest? Simply put, “to masquerade” means to portray someone other than yourself, and our contestants often bring to the stage as much performance imagination as they do design and crafting skills by portraying characters and creating presentations with specially selected music that create story, mood, drama, humor and more. Our giant high-definition projection screens and multiple cameras provide great close-up views of the costumes to everyone. Audience members need not wear a costume, but feel free to add to the fun and spirit of the event and dress in something unique and fun.
Our emcee will again be the always entertaining five-time Hugo Award–winning artist and writer Phil Foglio. Together with his wife, Kaja Foglio, he’s created, published, and contributed to a variety of comics, art, and games in science fiction, fantasy, and steampunk genres through their company and website www.StudioFoglio.com, featuring their popular Girl Genius series.
After the costume presentations, while the judges tally their scores, the audience will be entertained by the Jedha Temple chapter of The Saber Guild, the largest not-for-profit Lucasfilm-recognized Star Wars lightsaber club in the world, thrilling us with an original Star Wars storyline, great screen-accurate costumes, and impressive choreographed action. After their show, we will see the exceptionally talented Corps Dance Crew returning to our stage. The Corps, a non-professional entertainment group that melds cosplay, various modern dance styles, and lively popular music, perform all over Southern California to bring anime, comics, movies, and other pop culture to life, bringing new shows each year at Comic-Con, WonderCon, and many other conventions and other events.
Masquerade tickets assure a seat, but are not required:
Rather than see attendees stand in line for hours Saturday to be certain they get a seat, free tickets will be given out at 12 noon on Saturday to those lining up near Ballroom 20, and tickets will be available again from 3:00–5:00 PM at the Masquerade Desk until all are given out. Once you have your ticket, you are guaranteed a seat, and you can go enjoy other programming and line up later knowing there is a chair for you. After the ticket-holders line has gone into the ballroom, there is open seating for anyone who arrives until the room is filled, no ticket required.
Professional badge holders who are program participants and a limited number of representatives of the press with verified credentials may obtain seating tickets ahead of time at the Masquerade Desk near Ballroom 20 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. And of course, special invited guests of the convention may request VIP seating. Attendees with special needs should visit the Deaf Services or Disabled Services Desks in the lobby of Hall A to learn about and reserve their special seating for the show. As always, there will be a signer for the hearing impaired.
Photography:
No flash photography is allowed of the stage presentations, but non-flash photography and video recording are welcome. There will be a flash-allowed Photo Area set in a nearby room where contestants will pose after their stage presentations, and photographers or press wishing Photo Area access should reserve a spot by writing to masq@comic-con.org or signing up at the Masquerade Desk at the convention if spots are still available then.
Comic-Con International trophies to be awarded in various categories:
Our Comic-Con Masquerade trophy medallions, custom-designed for us by popular fantasy artist Sue Dawe and fabricated by the same company that produces awards for the Emmy®, Golden Globes®, and People’s Choice® Awards, are bestowed upon winners by the judges panel in categories of Best in Show, Judges’ Choice, Best Re-Creation, Best Original Design, Best Workmanship, Most Humorous, Most Beautiful, and Best Young Fan. Those trophy winners will also receive free 4-day badges to Comic-Con International 2026!
Additional awards:
Several companies and organizations are generously supporting the event by offering cash and other prizes of their own, and will be awarding winners selected by their representatives:
- Frank & Son Collectible Show of the City of Industry, California, “the first and last stop for all your collectible needs,” will once again take a break from their large bi-weekly mini-cons to present a generous $1,000 cash prize, plus a beautiful trophy, to the entry they deem to be the audience favorite (so everyone should generously applaud their favorites!).
- The Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800. The ADG, which has presented panels at Comic-Con for over a dozen years, has among its members art directors, graphic artists, illustrators & storyboard artists, model makers, pre-vis artists, production designers, scenic artists, set designers and title artists of the motion picture, theater, and TV industries. The ADG is presenting two awards: The Art Directors Guild Cosplay Award for Original Concept Design, presented to the entry most exemplifying a wholly original concept, and The Art Directors Guild Cosplay Award for Best Visual Media Design, presented to the entry whose design best interprets a character or concept from a television show or motion picture. Each award comes with a $500 prize.
- The Costumer’s Guild West (CGW), Southern California’s costuming fandom group, will present a one-year membership to CGW, as well as a full scholarship and a complimentary one-night hotel stay to their weekend conference, Costume College®, held each July at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel. This year their event is the weekend right after Comic-Con, so their winner may choose 2026 or 2027 to attend. Their prize will be given to the entry their representatives select as showing the most promise. Costume College provides educational lectures and workshops in every aspect of costuming.
- Comic-Con International will once again present a special award given in memory of long-time Committee and Board member Alan Campbell, who passed away and is sorely missed. Alan was a great fan of the Masquerade, at times generously donating his own prize. The Alan Campbell Award will be $500 cash, presented to the entry deemed Best Re-Creation of a Comics or Related Media Character or Characters, as selected by one of the guest judges.
- Comickaze Comics & Pop Culture Store, San Diego’s #1 source for comics, graphic novels, & collectibles, located in the Clairemont Mesa area since 1993, will present an award for what they deem the Best In-Character Performance, with a generous prize of a limited edition special collectible statuette, an Amazon gift card of $300, and a $200 Comickaze gift card.
More prizes will join this list as the convention approaches, check the website for the latest updates, and for any questions email masq@comic-con.org.
How to enter the competition:
For complete contestant information, contest rules, and an entry form, use this link here.
The deadline for entries is July 7, but we usually fill up in June, so it is best not to wait. After you submit the entry form, your reserved spot is only tentative until you email photos of your costume, no later than July 7, to masq@comic-con.org so it can be evaluated for meeting the criteria for acceptance. For a group entry, photos of all costumes in the group will be required. “Work-in-progress” photos are acceptable if only a minor amount of work remains to be done. Contestants must be at least age 12 to participate. Should the link to the form not work for you, you may write to masq@comic-con.org to request full information, rules and an entry form sent to you. You may also use that address for any questions about the Masquerade.