Europa Cosplay Cup

Autumn, 2026
Toulouse, France

E2C GENERAL RULES

The Europa Cosplay Cup (E2C) is an annual solo cosplay competition which will gather around twenty cosplayers selected in their country from all over Europe.

The list of partner events is constantly evolving. Participants are invited to visit the official website of the competition. (http://europacosplaycup.com/)

I. General rules for selections

In addition to these rules, participants must comply with any general rules established by the organisers of the selection. Participants should contact them in order to obtain further information on this subject.

2. Conditions for re-using costumes

During the selections, the re-use of any costume is authorised as long as it respects the regulations put in place by the organisers of the selection.
However, the costumes having been used during a final of a continental or international competition to represent their regions/countries (for example: EC, ECG, C4, CICAF, WCS, etc.) cannot be presented for a selection or during the final of the Europa Cosplay Cup.
Once the cosplayer is selected, the costumes that will be chosen and presented in the finals of E2C can not be used for any other competition before the finals occur. The costumes can be posted online and worn, and are not required to be kept confidential. Work in progress and finished costume media is allowed to be uploaded to social media.
It is allowed to use the same costume in the finals than in the national preliminary but in this case, the participant must at least change the stage performance.

3. Conditions and limit of participation

The competition is open to participants who:
- will be aged 18 years old or over by the start of the event where the final is hosted.
- must have proof of citizenship or permanent residency of the selection country.
Any participant having questions about this article can directly refer to Cosplay Team for more information.

4. Judge status

Restrictions

- A person who has been a judge during a selection cannot subsequently participate in any other selection.
- A person having been qualified during a selection cannot subsequently be a judge during another selection.

2. Tolerances

- The same person may be a judge at several selections during the same season. A person who participated in a selection and who was not qualified may subsequently be a judge but will therefore no longer be able to participate in any selection.

3. Charter of conduct

- Becoming a judge of a selection from the E2C is not trivial. In addition to choosing a representative for a competition of european scope, the organisers are in contact with many professional speakers: the event hosting the final, the events hosting the selections, sponsors, the press, etc.
- As soon as a person agrees to become a judge for a selection, he accepts in particular:
  - To be completely objective (by following the established grading criteria)
  - To judge the costume and the performance on the day of the competition, and not the participant himself
  - not to disclose any personal data, private information and/or of a manifestly confidential nature to third parties or on social networks

5. Qualification during a selection

For each selection, a participant will be qualified as a representative of a country. In case that the selected representative would not be able to attend the final, a runner-up will also be selected.
Any participant having qualified during a selection will no longer be able to participate in another selection.

6. Helper status

Participants in the final are authorised to bring one helper into the spaces which will be reserved for cosplayers taking part in the final. However, this access to spaces will be limited to certain hours and certain areas will remain out of access. The helper must spontaneously present themselves to the France Cosplay staff on their arrival in order to obtain more information on the conditions of access.
The helper must assume all costs related to their travel.
The helper will be able to help on certain specific points insofar as the pose will have been seen with the props beforehand during the rehearsals.

7. Categories

Participants may perform in costumes representing characters (official references*) from:
- Asian animes and mangas
- European cartoons and comics
- American cartoons and comics
- Video games
- Movies or TV series
- Sentai or Metal Hero
*appears in an official work or published by a professional editor
All costumes from Trinity Blood, Scissor’s Crown or Sakizo for example must be submitted for validation by France Cosplay.
In any case, after selection, all of the representative’s costume choices for the final must be subject to validation by France Cosplay.
Furthermore, the staff of France Cosplay during the final cannot transport, push or support the costume. No aid on stage being authorised, the representative must therefore provide a costume which can be mobile and stable without any human help; except in the case of duly justified medical problems.

8. Performance duration

The participant’s passage on stage during the final is limited to 2 minutes. No derogation will be authorised.

9. Restrictions

For security reasons, are prohibited from use under penalty of disqualification, or even prosecution:
- Cutting weapons: any offensive or cutting weapon made of iron or steel, such as daggers, swords, machetes, knives, bayonets …
- Firearms: any weapon that fires explosive cartridges or projectiles, such as rifles, pistols …
- Incendiary weapons: any weapon intended to set fire to objects or cause burns to persons
- Liquids: any liquid product regardless of its composition
- All products likely to dirty or deteriorate the stage or the room: firecrackers, smoke, flour, confetti, glitter …
Are also prohibited under penalty of disqualification:
- Purchased costumes: Only costumes made by yourself (and/or with the help of your entourage) and with an artistic interest are accepted. If in doubt about a costume bought but customised, please contact us
- Any object or gesture with a racist or pornographic nature
- Any object or gesture that provokes or incites violence
Smoke machines are not allowed for safety reasons. A small system integrated into the costume can be accepted under condition and authorization in advance (this system will also be tested on site).
It is absolutely forbidden to finish the costumes during the activities in France or during the event. If any staff member notices this rule being broken, it will be communicated and 50% of the points will be removed. It is allowed to fix any broken part, but the costume must be finished.
The use of automated production tools, such as 3D printers or embroidery machines, is limited to 50% of the total material that makes up the costumes and props taken together.
- The participant using these tools will have to detail to Cospop, in the WIP file that he/she will have to constitute, the data creation process and the corresponding images showing that he/she is the author of the data. If a participant exceeds the 50% limit mentioned above, this will have an impact on the scoring.

All rules regarding Finals could be find at E2C site: http://europacosplaycup.com/#rules.

All questions regarding qualifiers could be send to cosplay@jtsoon.ee email directly.

1. General

Travel expenses for contestants and judges are covered by the NCC and the participating countries’ events that host the qualifier rounds. The NCC also provides accommodation for all contestants and their assistant as well as the judges and one qualifier representative from each country.

The contestant must be either a citizen of the country or otherwise considered a resident there.
All participants must be at least 16 years old. Participants who are up to 18 years old (or legal adulthood) must submit a statement of authorization signed by their participation guardians.
Each contestant will be allowed to bring one assistant to the event. The NCC will not pay for the assistant’s travel expenses. The NCC will however provide the assistant with entry and accommodation for the event. If the contestants wants to bring more assistants, that is perfectly fine, but they or their assistants’ must cover all expenses, including admission to the event, on their own.

2. Judging

The panel will consist of judges from the NCC’s founding countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The qualifier representative from each country will select their respective judge. The panel may also include international judges chosen by NärCon.
Before the final, the contestants will meet the judges for prejudging. Contestants will attend the prejudging in their full costume and with their hand-held props. Presenting the costume without wearing it is prohibited. Each contestant has an allotted judging time of ~15 minutes.
During the prejudging, judges may ask questions about the construction of the costume. They may also touch the costume after asking and receiving permission from the contestant. Judges may document, record and photograph the costumes for use in the judging. The judges may post the material publicly only after asking and receiving permission from the contestant
The performances will be judged live during the show. Judges will score all contestants after their performance, their points are hidden from other judges. After the last contestants, judges will have ~10 minutes to talk to each other about performances and change their scores (the points awarded by each judge is still secret). After the total scores have been finalized, the highest and lowest score for each contestant will be eliminated and the remaining summed up to determine the exact order of all contestants.
If there is a tie for first, second or third place, the total sum of points, including those previously eliminated, will serve as the first tie breaker. Should a second tie breaker be required, the points from the guest judge will serve as the second tie breaker. Should there still be a tie, the guest judge will decide who wins the tie.

3. Points

Contestants will be judged on their craftsmanship, performance and the overall likeness to the character.
- Craftsmanship: 10 points
- Performance: 10 points
- Likeness: 5 points

4. Performance

Each contestant must prepare a performance which should be between 90 and 150 seconds long. The time of the performance can not be longer than 150 seconds, can not be less than 90 seconds, but can be of any length in between 90–150 seconds.
The NCC will create a video for the digital backdrop based on the contestants wishes. The contestant may instead make their own backdrop. The contestant’s backdrop will be subject to changes following communication between the NCC and the contestant. The contestant must be available to answer questions regarding their performance in order to make the background video as good as possible.

- Contestants may use the following

- Music
- Microphones for live dialogue
- Background video
- Pre-recorded dialogue
- Stage props
- Hand held props, such as swords or small items
It is prohibited to take the performance outside of the stage, e.g. to the area between stage and audience. Use of possible catwalks is allowed, as is running off stage at the end of the performance.
Stage props must be lightweight enough for 2-4 people to carry up on stage.
Use of fire, water or scattering of items requires permission from the stage crew. This must be acquired ahead of submitting information about the performance.
Contestants should be able to walk in their cosplay without outside assistance. Stage helpers are allowed to help contestants on to the stage in case of steps or steep surfaces.
Contestants may use one or more assistants in their performances.

5. Assistants

Assistants may:
- Wear a costume
- Not wear a costume if they so choose
- Appear on stage
- Be on stage for the entire length of the performance
- Have speaking/singing lines
Assistants may not:
- Have a role equal to the contestant in the performance. It should be 100% obvious who is the contestant and who is the assistant.

All performances are subject to changes asked by the production if there is a concern for safety of the audience, crew or contestant. The production will review all performances after receiving all related files and plans, and will be contact each contestant regarding their performance.

6. Costumes and hand-held props

Outside of official NCC activities, your costume and hand-held props are subject to the rules of the event.

6.1 The Costume

Costumes must be constructed by the contestants themselves and contestants are expected to be able to give an account of how all details of their costume were made. Store-bought and modified costumes are not allowed.
Contestants are allowed to compete with the same costume they qualified with, but not a costume they’ve participated in an earlier NCC final with.
Costumes must be finished on the day the contestant arrives at the venue. Repairs to any damage from travelling is allowed after arriving.

6.2 The Character

The character must be a fictional character from a published source. Published pictures of the character must exist for judges’ reference. Original designs and characters are not allowed.
It is recommended that the character is part of a story/narrative. If a character from an illustration, painting or the likes is chosen where the character doesn’t have an expressed backstory, personality or the likes the judges will only be able to judge the likeness-category in the performance.
It is recommended that the character isn’t a genderbend version or a gjinka/human version of a character if this particular version of the character is not part of the original published source. If the contestant still chooses to do this, the judges will only be able to judge the craftsmanship-category.

6.3 Props

Realistic props or replica weapons are allowed only on stage and during official NCC photoshoots. They must be kept hidden or stored safely in areas designated by event staff during all other times. When carried to and from stage and photoshoots, such props should be kept covered and sealed safely.

All rules regarding Finals could be find at NCC site: https://www.nordiccosplay.com/rules.