Hosting a Halloween Costume Contest: How to Please the Party

In a word-association game, Halloween will often be teamed with the word "costumes." If you are hosting a large Halloween event, or if you are on the planning committee for your company or social group event, you are probably thinking about a costume contest. Contests are usually done either with a panel of unbiased judges or judging by peers. Both methods have value and drawbacks.

If prizes of any value are involved, it's best to judge by a panel of unbiased observers. In that case, the judges should be given a set of criteria upon which to judge each category, or they should be instructed to simply say what they like. The key if for contestants to know which method was used. Most costume contests will have categories such as "most creative", "most scary", or "most authentic" costume. There may also be a "best overall costume" winner. It's important in contest of this kind that the judges are truly unbiased, that is, not closely connected with any contestant. If the contest is in conjunction with a non-commercial party such as a church or school event, be sure to instruct judges that at winners should include costumes at a variety of dollar values. The judging may be done either as a runway contest in which each contestant walks before the judges and audience, or it may be done by judges mingling amongst the guests to choose finalists and having only the finalists walk the runway.