Attendee Policies
- No smoking or drinking (alcohol) at the con and affiliated Howard County public school grounds(defined as the Centennial High School campus and adjacent Burleigh Manor middle school campus).
- You are not allowed entrance into the convention while intoxicated, inebriated or under the influence of controlled substances.
- Please wait patiently in line, no line cutting. If we catch you line cutting, you will be sent to the back of the line. Please do not block doorways or entrance/exits with the line, leave a gap there.
- No nudity or profanity. The dress code for this convention is at most a low PG-13. Otaku Fest is an all ages event and attendees are asked to dress accordingly. Please refrain from walking around the convention in risque or revealing outfits. Otaku Fest staff reserves the right to ask an attendee to change clothing if it is deemed inappropriate.
- No roughhousing/wrestling.
- No fighting real or fake.
- No running in the hallways.
- No yelling or screaming in the panel rooms, video rooms, other places meant to be somewhat quiet, etc.
- No spin the bottle, truth or dare, or any other inappropriate games of that sort.
- Limit the amount of public affection (french kissing and whatnot).
- No panhandling/selling (except for the dealers and artists).
- No entering any area that is specifically labeled STAFF ONLY (if you are not on staff). This also includes sitting in chairs, at doors, that are for Otaku Fest staff/gophers only to check badges, or sitting at any other staff only post.
- No glomping/hugging/touching people without their permission
- No admittance to the convention areas before it is open (before posted hours of operation).
- We also prohibit any other behavior that we may have neglected to mention in the list, but involves violating another person's personal space or doing things that common sense indicates that you should NOT do.
Cosplay Policies
Costume Policies
Please keep in mind that his event is held at a public high school, so costume rules are a little conservative. Costumes must be kept PG. More specifically, this means that we do not allow costumes that are bikini-styled (ruling out most FFX-2 costumes). Please make sure your skirt is long enough that it won't flash anyone if you happen to bend down. If your costume requires a really short skirt, we may allow it if you wear shorts hidden underneath. If you have a relatively revealing costume (aka we can see your belly button and/or more you can still get away with wearing this costume if you have a nude colored/fleshtones body suit leotard or body suit. Otherwise we may have to ask you to change clothes.
If you have any specific questions or concerns about your costume, please contact [email protected].
Weapons Policies
Please keep in mind that his event is held at a public high school, so costume rules are a little conservative. Costumes must be kept PG. More specifically, this means that we do not allow costumes that are bikini-styled (ruling out most FFX-2 costumes). Please make sure your skirt is long enough that it won't flash anyone if you happen to bend down. If your costume requires a really short skirt, we may allow it if you wear shorts hidden underneath. If you have a relatively revealing costume (aka we can see your belly button and/or more you can still get away with wearing this costume if you have a nude colored/fleshtones body suit leotard or body suit. Otherwise we may have to ask you to change clothes.
If you have any specific questions or concerns about your costume, please contact [email protected].
Weapons Policies
- No real weapons.
- NO GUNS. Please do not bring any weapons that looks remotely like a gun. This includes use of real OR toy guns of any kind, air/airsoft guns, flare guns, etc.
- NO LIVE STEEL, including swords, daggers, katana, knives etc. We define "live steel" as : any objects made of metal that are capable of taking an edge, whether or not the object is actually sharp or not, or whether a sword/object is sheathed or not.
- No Nunchaku
- No Explosives or chemicals of any kind including, but not limited to, smoke powder, sparklers, and fireworks
- No prop/weapon that can shoot projectiles (i.e. nerf guns, slingshots, arrows). You may have the prop as long as no projectiles are present or the prop is unable to said fire projectiles.
- Types of fake weapons that are allowed: Wooden staffs (not swords) are allowed. Anything made of paper mache or other material that is not dangerous to others (e.g. has no sharp edges, or parts sticking out that might trip people as they walk by) are allowed. Please use common sense
- Misuse of your prop such as swinging it or endangering others with it will result in us asking you to remove the prop from the convention center
- All props and weapons brought into the convention must be inspected and approved by Otaku Fest staff at entry or sign in.
- All questionable weapons or props will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
- All decisions made by Otaku Fest Staff, or CHS Staff are final.
DISCLAIMER: If you bring in any weapons that goes against our policy, we will force you to put it back in your vehicle. If you do not have a location to store it safely, we will hold it for you until the end of the con.