Calling all cosplayers.

Adult section
First prize: £1000
Second prize: £500
Third prize: £250

Junior section
Fantasy-based trophies for first, second and third place.

Dates: 12 and 13 June 2027 (adults must attend both days, but juniors will have separate competitions on Saturday and Sunday, so there’s no need to attend both days)

Entry: Entry to the competition is FREE. All entries are to be booked at the point of booking your Fayre ticket via our partner, Ticket Tailor - this just helps us monitor numbers, as spaces are limited.

Age: All entrants for the adult prizes must be 18 or over. Junior competitors must be under 18.

Decisionmaking: Prizes will be awarded by a judging panel appointed by the organiser, Paladin Events Management Ltd, and their decision will be final.

Judging panel: The competition will be judged by Essex Cosplayers.

Judging criteria: Creativity (30%), character (30%), craftspersonship (40%).

What can I wear? Costumes must be made by or modified by the entrant by at least 70%. Certain pre-made costume parts, e.g. tights will be allowed.

Your portrayal must be based on a character from popular culture - no original/roleplay characters, sorry. The character can be drawn from any film, game, series, book, comic, manga or other popular media. Historical characters are also accepted.

Costumes must be appropriate for a family audience. Please refer to our Cosplay Regulations for further guidance and contact the Organiser via the website for clarification as required.

The judging

The adult competition will take part in two parts. On day one of the Fayre, all contestants will be asked to come to Hub Farm and chat to the judging panel. You’ll need to show a little evidence of the basis for your character, which may include photos, artwork, written materials and any other reference material. It doesn’t have to be professionally presented - printouts or photos on your phone are completely fine!

On day two, everyone who enters the competition will be welcomed to join a parade through the site to the main arena. There, the top 20 cosplayers (as selected by the judging panel) will be introduced.

For the junior section, both of these events will take place in one day.

If you wish, you may play up to the crowd or enact scenes from the character’s background (remembering the need to be family friendly). If you don’t want to play to the crowd and would rather just show your costume, that’s OK too - it’s totally optional!

Winners will then be announced and prizes will be awarded.

Prizes

Cash prizes to be issued by the organiser with 30 days of the competition by bank transfer.

Photography

Visitors agree to be photographed, filmed or recorded as part of the audience by the Paladin Events team.

All video, photos and audio material acquired at the Fayre by Paladin Events is subject to be used in promotional materials for future events without any limitations of time and space and at the sole discretion of the Fayre and Paladin Events.

Purchase your tickets (both days for adult competitors), including the free competition entry pass. Weekend tickets are available.

You will be free to enjoy the Fayre - the competition will not take up your whole day!

Please note, numbers for the competition are limited! We will remove the booking pass option once all available entries have been taken up.

If you’ve already booked your ticket and would like to add a competition entry pass, please let us know.