 | | Photo Courtesy David Stewart |
Every year, one of the high points of Octocon is the Masquerade ball on the Saturday night. We are delighted to announce that this year, we have secured sponsorship, which allows us to offer a really great prize. Airline bmi british midland has very generously put up two return tickets from Dublin to London for the overall winner. (Don't worry if you live in the UK. If the overall winner is a UK resident the prize is two return tickets from London to Paris.)
We are also very pleased to announce that Helen Ryder, a previous Octocon chair and an experienced costumer has agreed to run this year's event.
 | Photo Courtesy
David Stewart |
The Masquerade will take place as usual, on the Saturday night following the taping of the first two episodes of Big, Big Space, RTÉ's new SF radio show. This is scheduled to end at 9pm. We would hope to start the masquerade as soon as is practicable after that.
If you want to enter the Masquerade, you must fill in an entry form, which you can find here. You can enter any time up to 4pm on the Saturday, but entries can be submitted in advance to the Convention by e-mail or snail mail. Early entries would be appreciated. Entries can be individuals or groups, but there is only one overall prize. If a group wins, it's up to the members of the group to work out how to share it.
 | | Photo Courtesy Ed Stafford |
On the day, we will advise entrants of where and when they are to assemble. This will be 45 minutes in advance of the actual masquerade. We will try and secure a room for entrants to change and we will confirm this at a later stage. Remember if using heavy makeup to be considerate of others and NOT mess up the sinks etc!
 | Photo Courtesy
Ed Stafford |
To make sure everyone gets an equal chance, we will limit performance time to three minutes. "It's better to leave the audience wanting more than boring them to death," says Helen. Note the use of the word 'performance'! To enhance this year's masquerade we are advising entrants to treat it as one. Use of background music, narrated dialogue (either on pre-recorded tape or read out by the organiser) and appropriate acting is positively encouraged.
The topic of weapons is always contentious so we have to come the heavy with this point. Any weapons required for the masquerade entry should be cleared by the masquerade organiser and lodged with the committee on arrival until performance time. All blades must be blunt-edged, and all firearm-type weapons must not be direct replicas of real weapons.
 | | Photo Courtesy Ed Stafford |
There is one other rule that we will have to insist on: Enjoy yourself and let your imagination run wild!
 | | Photo Courtesy Ed Stafford |
And one last thing, feel free to dress up even if you don't enter the Masquerade. The 'out of competition' costumes give the convention a real 'other worldly' atmosphere.
Helen Ryder can be contacted through the convention.
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