All presentations and costumes must be suitable for a general audience. Costumes must meet the guidelines established in the Public Behavior Rules. In particular, bondage and BSDM gear is considered unacceptable. Collars and leases may be worn discreetly or if their use is a necessary part of the act (as determined by the Masquerade Director).
All performers on stage must be in a furry costume. Costumes must be made with significant and substantial content to resemble an anthropomorphic animal. Exceptions to this rule may be granted if the costume and performance are deemed appropriate by the Masquerade Director.
Entrants in the Standard Level categories will be judged during the masquerade rehearsal. Professional Level and Best in Show (Presentation of Character) will be judged the night of the masquerade. Professional Level and non-judged entrants must be present at the rehearsal, but will not be judged at that time. The content of this presentation should be focused on the costume or the character, not the performance of a skit.
You may only wear two costumes during the Masquerade. Each entry must be in a different judging category. This includes the non-judged category. You may enter any number of costumes if you have people to wear them for you.
All suits being judged must present themselves on stage the night of the Masquerade.
The rehearsal is expected to occur on the morning of the masquerade, and participants should plan on arriving by Friday evening of the convention to ensure that they will be able to attend. The rehearsal is a costume-required event. When rehearsing your stage time, you must wear (at the very least) the head of your costume. The rehearsal will be in a closed area, so no-one need see participants in partial costume.
You may have a short prepared act, or you may simply walk on stage. If you have no prepared act, a standard walk-around will be suggested by Masquerade staff so that convention attendees all have a good view. Stage time is limited to 60 seconds in length per. Exceptions are unlikely, any requests must be submitted to Masquerade staff prior to the start of the convention.
During the stage time, the stage will be brightly lit in white light and a musical selection can be played. If you wish to provide your own music, please present a pressed (silver) CD or CD-R, clearly labeled with the name of your costume and the track number to be played. No CD-RW or data CDs are permissable. To be sure, play the CD in the cheapest portable CD player you can find. If it can read it, we can probably use it. If you have no music, main stage technicians will select an appropriate musical selection to play. No working microphones are permitted (however you may use a non- functioning one as a prop). If your needs exceed this, please contact masquerade staff prior to the convention and advise us of your requirements. We will attempt to accommodate any reasonable requests!
Any questions about the qualifications of a costume or presentation should be brought to the attention of the Masquerade Director at the rehearsal.
We will be using a slightly different set of categories this year than in previous masquerades. Please read carefully to be sure of where your entry may best fit.
Participants will register at the masquerade rehearsal. Entrants should plan on arriving Friday to ensure that they make the mandatory rehearsal and costume judging.
Special requests, such as unusual staging requirements may or may not be honored, depending on availability. No special requests will be considered unless emailed to Masquerade staff 30 days before the convention.
You may choose to compete in a higher category, but not a lower one (see explanation of categories in Judging Structure), or you may be a non-competitive entry.
Late entries will not be eligible to be judged. If stage time is available, you may go after all other participants have had their time.
There is a mandatory, in-costume rehearsal for ALL participants to be held prior to the Masquerade (see schedule for time). Exceptions to this rule may be granted for certain circumstances but must be arranged in advance. Again, entrants should plan on arriving Friday to ensure that they can attend the rehearsal.
The construction judging will be done at the rehearsal. Please plan to spend time both being judged and waiting for others. The judging area will be closed to general attendees, so you will be free to take your head or costume off as needed.
Entrants who have any audio that is to be played as part of their performance may bring it during their rehearsal. If the audio is not submitted to Masquerade staff 3 hours before the start of the Masquerade, A/V Tech staff will select music during your performance. Again, a pressed (silver) CD or CD-R, clearly labeled with the name of your costume and the track number to be played. No CD-RW or data CDs are permissable.
The Masquerade Director reserves the right to refuse stage time for any participant.
The Masquerade Director also reserves the right to terminate any performance at any time.
Flash photography will be allowed at all times during the Masquerade.
If any rule listed here contradicts a Convention rule laid down by Further Confusion Staff, the Convention rule will apply.
The enumeration of these rules does not constitute the entirety of the Masquerade rules.
Situations that are not explicitly covered here should be brought to the attention of the Masquerade Director and will be reviewed by the Masquerade Director and Further Confusion Staff.
All decisions made by the Masquerade Director regarding the Masquerade are final.
Contact the Masquerade Director at before the con.
If you have any questions or comments regarding Further Confusion policies, please send email to .