What is Costume-Con?

What exactly is Costume-Con?

It’s a 4 day long conference all about costuming and cosplay. It’s about costumes from anime, comics, fantasy, sci-fi, fursuits, theatrical/TV/film, millinery, accessories, and more.

Costume-Con is an international traveling convention, as it moves to a new location every year, with a new hosting committee as well. So every year’s experience is a little different, but it’s always fun!  It’s also 4 full days, starting Friday morning and ending Monday afternoon.  Plus optional pre- and post-con tours and activities.

More information about the history of Costume-Con can be found at Costume-ConNections — which includes the visual archive (photos!) and other useful documents.

This is my first Costume-Con.  What should I expect?

The atmosphere tends to be fairly laid-back and casual, unlike some anime conventions.  That is, until it’s just before any of the Masquerade competitions, at which point folks may seem a bit frantic.

Every hour has something of interest, ranging from workshops and demos to the Masquerades to social events.  And of course, everyone wants to ogle your costume and find out how you managed to get it just so.  Some people will be in a (different!) costume each day, and others will be in casual clothes.

The dealers room will have everything you could desire, from fabrics and trims to patterns to tools, and more.  If our dealers don’t have it, it may not exist.

Main events occur every night, with multiple masquerades and parties.