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Masquerade
 What is a Masquerade?
Ever since there have been science fiction conventions, fans have loved to dress up, either as their favorite
characters, or in elegant costumes of their own design. It was a natural progression for conventions to institute
prizes for the best costume, and that in turn has led to the tradition of the Masquerade.
These days the Masquerade is one of the prime attractions at a Worldcon, rivaled only by the Hugo Award Ceremony.
It is essentially a catwalk show in which costumers of all levels and abilities show off their skills and win prizes.
Worldcon members are welcome to participate, either by producing costumes of their own or by joining the audience in
the magnificent Clyde Auditorium to watch the show. The pictures on this page, all taken from past Worldcons, will
give you some idea of what to expect.
By the way, don't worry that you have to be up to this sort of standard. When showing photos we obviously like to
feature the very best, but there are several levels of competition so even if you are only a beginner (or a child)
you stand a chance of winning a prize.
How to Participate
If you are an experienced costumer, please go direct to this page where you will
find all of the information that you are expecting. For the benefit of newcomers, there follows a basic
run-down of the process.
To participate in the Masquerade you will need to register with Interaction’s
Masquerade Director. Ideally we would like you to do this before the convention because it helps us plan the
show if we know what to expect, but there are some technical issues that it may take you a while to sort out so
we are prepared to takes entries at the beginning of the convention itself.
The guidelines on the entry form page give you a lot more background about the sort of information we need,
but basically it covers simple things like who you are, what your costume is, and what sort of sound and lighting
you want for your performance. The other thing we need to know is what level of experience you have. We try to
group entries into novices, journeymen (regulars) and masters (experts) so that everyone has a fair chance at a
prize. And of course kids get a prize category too.
On the day of the show the theatre will be open for rehearsals, so you will get a chance to test out your
presentation on the stage and talk to our tech team. But bear in mind that there will be a lot of entries so you
won’t get a lot of time.
If you have specific questions, try our FAQ page.
Hall Costumes
Does going up on stage in front of a crowd of 3,000 adoring fans worry you? OK, we can see that it might be a
bit intimidating. But we still want you to bring your costume(s) to Interaction. Wear it (them?) during the day
as you wander round the convention. Some of our staff will be prowling the halls incognito ready to give prizes
to the best-dressed fans that they see. We call this "hall costume prizes", and we want you to win one.
Photography
Worldcon Masquerades always attract hordes of people with cameras. If you class yourself as a serious
photographer we will be providing a special area with a proper backdrop and lights where you can get good shots of
the contestants after they leave the stage. You will need to sign up in advance for this because space is limited.
Look out for announcements at the convention.
For everyone else, happy snapping, but please remember that not everyone enjoys being photographed so ask
first, OK?
Flash photography will not, repeat NOT, be allowed during the show.
And if you forgot your camera, or don’t have one, we will have pictures of all of the masquerade contestants
available for sale after the event.
More about Costuming
If you would like to learn more about costuming, and perhaps pick up a few tips before starting on your own
costume, you may find the following web sites useful:
To see more pictures from Worldcon Masquerades try the following links:
Photograph Details
All of the photographs on this page come from the 1987 Worldcon in Brighton.
If you have good scanned or digital photos of the 1995 Worldcon we would love to hear from you.
Top:
"Elric, Yyrkoon, and the Muses of Law & Chaos", Victoria Ridenour, Adrian Butterfield (deceased),
Dianne Dawe and (kneeling) Rusty Dawe, winners of Best in Show.
Centre: "Gryphon, a Mythical Beast", James Steele, winner of a
Workmanship Award for Featherwork and a Presentation award for Best in Class Novice.
Bottom: "The Iron Orchid", Alison Cook, winner of a Design Award for
Best Design Detail, a Workmanship Award for Peacock Tails and Electronics and a Presentation Award for Most Beautiful Master.
© UK 2005 Ltd, 2002-2004. All rights to content reserved to UK 2005 Ltd, unless otherwise indicated.
This page maintained by webmaster@interaction.worldcon.org.uk.
Page last updated 10th April 2005
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