Masquerade Rules and conditions 

Masquerade:

      Like any furry convention, What the Fur organizes a masquerade where participant will show their talent on stage. The masquerade will be one of the main events of the convention and will take place Saturday night at 19h00. It will be the time for your comrade to demonstrate their talent in from of a live audience. Unlike other furry conventions, What the Fur? will split the contestant in different divisions (novice, disciple, artisan and master). Those will serve as guidelines to ensure that everyone that participate have a chance to win. It is important to mention that everyone is free to compete at the highest level if they want to or feel like it. Those guidelines have been borrowed and partially alter from the International Costuming Guild (ICG) to be relevant in a furry convention. 

      The masquerade inscription will be held Friday night between 18h00 and 20h00 as well as satuday morning until 11h00. The maximum number of entries within the masquerade is limited to 30 contestants. The green room will open his door at 16h00 Saturday evening and we would advise the participant to be there on time to facilitate the masquerade crew's job. As for the fursuiter or participant with complex skit, we can not ensure that we will hold a rehearsal. So far, we are working hard to be able to offer it before the start of the show. The rules for the masquerade are on the site and will be included on the registration sheet. We expect contestant to be familiar and to respect them during at all times before and during the masquerade.  

Performance:

      Each skit with two or less participants will have a maximum of one minute on stage. Groups of three or more can have up to three minutes. Participant must be aware that the masquerade is a PG13 rate show. The director has the right to remove any skit that he judges inappropriate.  The contestant will not have access to a microphone so the audio track must be prepared beforehand.  The audio track has to be recorded and burnt on a CD (the CD has to be read by any conventional audio reader).  The contestant must also provide the CD at the inscription desk following the inscription for the masquerade. Any others information concerning the performance will be discussed in the green room with the MC and the stage crew. 

Evaluation:

      Unlike other furry conventions, the What the Fur masquerade contestant will have the possibility to be judged for the construction of their costume or any specific part of it. To enter the workmanship judging, contestants must have built most of the costume themselves.  Any costumes built by a third party cannot be judged for workmanship. The workmanship will be judged in regards to contestant categories.  

      A panel of judges consisting of our guests of honor as well as the workmanship judge will evaluate the performance of the contestant.  Recognitions will be offered after deliberation of the judges and winner announcement will be held Sunday at noon, before the auction. Many performances could receive a prize depending on the quality shown during the masquerade. Once again, the participant will be judged by the categories' entry giving a chance to our novice division to win. 

      Junior: Each participant younger than 13 year old at the con's beginning has to enter this division. Legal tutor signature will be required to allow participation of the contestant in the masquerade  

      Novice: Every participant who has never participated in a masquerade or has never won any prize while participating in the novice category needs to enter novice level. The rules include any other win in this category in any other masquerade competition (Anime, sci-fi, etc).  

      Disciple: Every participant who has already won an award in the novice division or already won in the disciple division must enter as a disciple. The rules include any other win in this category in any other masquerade competition (Anime, sci-fi, etc). 

      Artisan: Every participant who has already won three awards in the disciple division or already won in the artisan division must enter as an artisan. The rules include any other win in this category in any other masquerade competition (Anime, sci-fi, etc). 

      Master: Every participant who has already won three awards in the artisan division or already won in the Master division must enter as a Master. The rules include any other win in this category in any other masquerade competition (Anime, sci-fi, etc).  Also, a contestant who already won an international competition must enter in the Master category. 

      Out of competition: Contestant who is a professional costume builder or stage actor will be asked to enter as “out of competition” in our masquerade as well as professional. A contestant is qualifies as a professional when half or more of his yearly income during comes from one of those example fields. 

Masquerade's rules:

1: No open flame, fire, flash powder or flash paper is allowed. Sealed electronic flashes are permitted. If you are using a strobe effect please note it on your form so the MC may warn the audience. No pointing of laser pens at the audience or the tech crew. 

2: No messy substances on stage. If in doubt ask the Masquerade Directors. The stage must be in as good a condition when you leave as when you enter. If you are leaving something on stage, it must be able to be easily picked up by the stage crew or bring your own ninja. 

3: No flagrant nudity. This Masquerade is rated PG-13. There may be children in the audience 

4: The weapons policy of the convention must be followed. No real firearms, no realistic replicas, and no projectile weapons are allowed. Please transport your weapons to and from the Masquerade in a bag or closed container if they do not conform to the convention weapons policy. Note that the weapons still have to be registered with the Director of Security and/or Operations. While weapons will be allowed on stage, they must be checked by our staff first. 

5: The Masquerade Directors reserve the right to eliminate anyone from competition on the basis of taste, danger to the audience or other contestants, or for any other reason deemed sufficient. Flagrant or repeated violations of the rules may result in the contestant  being barred from future masquerades, at the Director's discretion. 

6: The Judges may choose not to give out a Best-in-Show Award, a Best-of-Division Award, or may not give out any awards in any division at all if they do not feel any costumes entered in that division are deserving of an award. The decisions of the Judges are final.   

Final note: We must keep in mind to participate for public as well as contestant pleasure. If you have any question to formulate, communicate with the masquerade director or his assistant 

This document has been inspired of Otakuthon's