LAN:  Nov 23 – Nov 26
Day: Nov 24 – Nov 26

Cosplay

READY, SET, GLUE!

Cosplay at DreamHack is returning with a prestigious Cosplay Championship 25,000 SEK is ups for grabs. More news and breakdowns of the tournaments and schedule to come soon.

Free 3-Day Pass for Cosplayers (sign-up required)

DreamHack welcomes all signed-up cosplayers to enjoy our festival 24/7; from Friday 25th, 10:00 CET, until Sunday 27th, 20:00 CET, when the festival closes. To be eligible for a free Cosplay Pass you have to participate in the Cosplay Parade and/or the Cosplay Competition.

Cosplay Schedule

DreamHack Cosplay Championship – Saturday at 17.00 CET
ECG Qualifiers – Sunday at 14.30 CET
Cosplay Parade – Sunday at 13.30 CET

DreamHack's Cosplay Championship Host & Judges

Babbling Goat

Host
Gabriel-Eriksson-Sahlin

Neah Rayne

Co-host
CosplayJudge_NeahRayne

Marugitto Cosplay

Judge
Marugitto-dota

Tokah Cosplay

Judge
Tokahcosplay

Yujikoi Cosplayer  

Judge
Yujikoi

COMPETITION TIERS

EXPERT TIER

Contestants who want to compete on a higher level.

Costume must be self-made (exception: base wig, shoes and undergarments).

ARTISAN TIER

Contestants who have out-grown the novice tier, but not quite ready for the master tier.

Self-made costume, but may use modified/changed garments.

NOVICE TIER

Self-made costume, but may use modified/changed garments.

Eligible if no crafting education (sewing/welding/3D-printing etc.) and/or haven’t won any cosplay contests.

KIDS TIER

Prizes and recognition for all entrants!

Ages 0-15.

SELECTION PROCESS

Participants cannot compete wearing a cosplay that previously placed in the top three at DreamHack Cosplay Championship. Each contestant will have a couple of minutes for pre-judging and up to 1 min on stage from the entrance to exit – contestants may send in up to 60-sec long performance/music for their performance (optional).

Note that ultimately contestants must respect the judge’s decision and the judge’s interpretation of the criteria. The judges have the right to change the contestant’s tier before the stage show based on the contestant’s experience and the cosplay presented. The cosplayer will be consulted regarding this before the stage show.

We allow cosplays from all media, video games, role-playing games, comic books, manga, anime, TV or film adaptations, Fan-art, etc. We also allow for gender bends, gijinkas, and original characters (e.g. DnD characters, or your character from a game). Important to note that you still need to bring reference materials for your design.

There are also general event rules that apply to the cosplayers in the competition.

WEAPONS AND EFFECTS

Real weapons are not allowed, including soft air guns or other air/gas weapons. Weapons made of metal are not allowed as props, these will be taken care of by security. So no real swords, knives, bats etc.

We do not allow explosive materials, fire, smoke, sparks, or similar effects.

Props will be checked by the Cosplay team and/or Security when entering the event and get an approval tag, this tag may only be removed during the competition and if needed for a photo-op.


EVENT

Since this is a family-friendly event, Costumes must be appropriate for wear in public. No hateful, offensive or provocative symbols, designs, or text are allowed. We encourage cosplayers to participate in activities around the event if possible. Have fun, join competitions at the expo, and mingle with visitors.

But when walking around the event, full-cover masks/helmets are not allowed. E.g. ski masks showing only eyes and mouth, or full helmets. Please carry the helmet or mask, and put it on for posing and photo-op.

Some exceptions apply, like when walking to the competition and the cosplay parade.

When walking around the event, weapons should be sheathed or carried in a non-aggressive way. So no actively walking around the event aiming around you with a gun.

We love large cosplays but for extremely large ones please notify us before the event so we can plan to help you have the best experience possible. This also applies if your cosplay makes it very hard to see.

Breaking the rules may lead to disqualification and/or a cut festival bracelet. DreamHack and Elmia will have the final say in decisions when enforcing the event rules.

ALL FANDOMS WELCOME

DreamHack welcomes all cosplayers from all fandoms.
Gaming, anime, books, graphic novels, etc – cosplay is for everyone!

ECG Qualifier

For the 3rd time, we will have the ECG qualifier at DreamHack, this time at DreamHack Winter 2022!

Now you have the chance to represent Sweden, during the 11th season of the ECG final at JapanExpo in France! Our winners in the competition will get to spend July 12-17 in France and get to experience the entire event which is between the 13-17th. This will be a good opportunity to meet cosplayers from all over Europe and see another fantastic event!

Sounds fun, so what do you need to know?

“ECG Finals” is divided into 2 classes, Single & Duo/Trio

  1. For those competing in Single, your performance may be a maximum of 1 min and 15 sec.

  2. For those competing in Duo/Trio, your performance may be a maximum of 2 min and 30 sec.

Your cosplay needs to be from published media such as anime, manga, series, video games, movies, TV series, comic books, J-Music. So it must not be from fan art and the like.

Two (2) weeks before the competition, we will collect your documentation and information about your competition contributions. WIP and schedule info.

When you represent your country, you must be a Swedish citizen or alternatively be a permanent resident of Sweden.

More detailed rules can be found here

Don’t miss the chance, it will be super fun!

cosplay perks

By joining us at DreamHack Winter you’ll gain a few perks along the way! We’ll be promoting you on our platforms, as well as through our social channels. You have access to the cosplay lounge. Finally, if you’re selected to join us for the Cosplay Championship you’ll gain a free ticket to the festival

Take the wig off, grab a snack, and relax in our cosplay lounge – exclusive to cosplayers and their handlers. You’re welcome to hang out, take advantage of our dressing rooms, and get some peace from the bustle of a con during the event. Plus, you’ll have access to various repair supplies and a basic photography setup.

We have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and have taken extra time to train our volunteers and security personnel to make sure you have a safe and fun festival experience. Cosplay is not consent and we support a see something, say something policy. Please feel free to report any issues at any time to our staff, crew, and/or security.

Cosplay faq

The Cosplay Crew is available at the event to assist cosplayers to get into the event with a “fast track” handled through Lobby Nord (North). We will provide more details about this in the information sent out to all contestants before the event.

Yes, we have 4 dressing rooms available. Mixed, Women, Men, and Non-binary.

If we notice any of these being unused we may change this around a bit to be able to accommodate as many as possible.

All dressing rooms offer mirrors, bathrooms, showers, and seatings.

Contact us at dh.cosplayswe@efg.gg or talk to the Cosplay Crew at the event.

Yes, DreamHack has a lot of fun activities for both cosplayers and guests, there are panels, competitions, expo activities, and a cosplay parade.

There will also be plenty of opportunities to mingle and network with other cosplayers and people in the gaming industry.

The Cosplay Crew will have a general idea about the activities at the event.

At the event, we have some tools, paint, safety pins, glue, etc. in our Cosplay repair station.

Missing anything here when at the event, feel free to ask one of our dedicated Cosplay Crew and we may be able to help!

Yes, but we require check-in and approval from the cosplay crew since we want to keep the Cosplay lounge a safe and chill place to be during the event. Remember to respect the cosplayers so that they may be there to take a break.

Cosplays can be stored in the dressing room lockers, sadly the lockers cannot be locked due to old standards of coins. So this is at your own risk.

However we have our crew limiting access to the lounge and dressing room area at all hours, so the space is only shared between Cosplayers (and assistants), Cosplay Crew, and Cosplay Photographers.

You need to be there either for the Championship on Saturday or the parade on Sunday! However, there is loads of fun stuff happening, like the Elgigantens Cosplay competition on Friday.

Why not bring a “casual” cosplay for one of the other days that allows for joining in on activities that your other cosplay won’t?

Yes, we do have this at the festival. There will be clear signs onsite.

We want Dreamhack to be a fun event for Cosplay and care a lot about your experience. Cosplay Crew is here to support and we also have the support of the other functions at Dreamhack, such as Medic and Security if needed.

Previous cosplays at DreamHack

Babbling Goat

Gabriel Eriksson Sahlin is an openly queer transgender man and a lecturer at universities and companies such as Mittuniversitetet, Klarna and Securitas within LGBTQIA+, behavior and organizational culture, and more! Gabriel is also the Talent Acquisition and Diversity Manager at the game publisher Kinda Brave and has a focus on making the industry more diverse!

Neah Rayne

Neah Rayne is a cosplayer, streamer and gameshow host from Sweden who has both studied cosplay in Norway as well as founded the cosplay organisation Göteborg Cosplay Guild. She has won several cosplay competitions as well as been a cosplay judge and lecturer. As a streamer she streams everything from traveling and hiking to games and gameshows.
Except for streaming or cosplaying she also got several years of experience in the entertainment industry and currently works as a gameshow host

Marugitto

Marugitto is an award-winning cosplayer located in southern Sweden who has been cosplaying for over 15 years. She makes costumes based on games, books, anime /manga, and movies – and builds armor as well as sews dresses. Swedish national champion 2020. Participated in the NCC (Sweden) and PGEC (Switzerland) 2022.

Tokah Cosplay

Tokah is a DreamHack cosplay veteran who won the Master tier at both DreamHack Summer and Winter in the same year in 2019! In addition, she has won pretty much every big contest there is in Sweden, including the Swedish and Nordic Cosplay Championships.

She loves everything when it comes to crafting, sewing, building armor, props, sculpting, molding, and painting, and also frequently hosts talks and workshops about cosplay.
Did we mention that you can find her among the gamers in the LAN halls when she isn’t busy with cosplay at DreamHack?

Not surprising that most of her award-winning cosplays are from video games like League of Legends, Overwatch, and Diablo.

Yujikoi

Yuji is a cosplayer, model, and crafter known as Yuji Koi Cosplayer. Originally from Vietnam, but now based in Switzerland. Since 2014, she started to get into a cosplay stage performance and has been attending many cosplay competitions, from which she achieved many prizes (World cosplay summit 2017 Vietnamese representative, 1st prize Dubai Comic-Con anime category, etc).

Thanks to cosplay, she could travel around the world to conventions as a guest and judge, participate in international cosplay competitions, and work with companies like Riot Games, HoYoVerse, Sharkmob, Tencent, Vinagame, and Com2uS.

Through time, cosplay and streaming are gradually becoming her full-time job. Now she creates cosplay makeup tutorials to help people find their own cosplay style, as well as sharing her own knowledge about cosplay stage performance to engage people getting more into cosplay acting.