BAGUIO CITY – The newly institutionalized Baguio Cosplay Festival attracted cosplayers and artists on October 27 at Session Road, Baguio City, featuring different characters from anime, mobile games, movies, and other franchises.
The festival offers several activities, such as Japanese or anime-themed booths selling Japanese foods, stickers, and other accessories. They included a costume parade where Daryl Versoza, cosplaying Michael Jackson, led a thriller dance before the parade started. A mascot and inflatable race followed, bringing the participants and audiences fun. Cosplay competitions let cosplayers perform and display the outfits and characters they chose to portray, as well as a band performance from Adobo Nihon. A set of questions challenges the audience’s knowledge about different anime, cartoons, video games, and fun facts about the cosplay community in Baguio as they receive keychains, stickers, and button badges as prizes in exchange for correct answers.
Elai x Charein x Lyka won first place for best-decorated booth, while Toys and Antique Community was the second placer. William T. Cruz and Rymel Toshua Ayson Sawal won in the mascot and inflatable race. On the other hand, in the cosplay competition, Charles Andrew Nonog bagged first place who portrayed Claude Frollo from the Disney movie Hunchback of Notre Dame wonderfully. Kendall Greale L. Bungsal and Althea Sheira consecutively won 2nd and 3rd place. Meanwhile, Hikars Zapanta grabbed the Best Chibi award, while Maria Khryzlyn Azarcon got the Best in Runway award.
Joma Rivera, the Senior Tourism Operations Officer, led the ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Baguio Tourism Council Chairperson Gladys Vergara and barangay captain Van Dicang, who went on behalf of Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
The organizers also revealed the official mascot of the Baguio Cosplay Festival is Ngeyaw, which means cat in Ibaloi. This mascot name garnered 67% in the Baguio Cosplay Network Facebook poll over the other name options, Musang, which means wild cat in Ilokano, and Taraki, which means cool or great in Ilokano and Kankanaey. The Lion’s Head inspires the mascot’s design, which is why it is a lion, and the kimono is a tribute to Japan, where anime and cosplay originated. The Sibat and Kalasag represent Baguio’s strong spirit. The design also includes the city’s iconic pine trees and pine cones. The designer based the design colors on the new tourism brand of Baguio City.
The Baguio City Council approved the ordinance of institutionalizing the Baguio Cosplay Festival 2024 this year, which was authored by the City Vice Mayor Faustino A. Olowan, boosting the city’s identity as a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Creative Cities Network (UCCN). This ordinance is the only drafted and approved ordinance of its kind in the entire Philippines. It was made possible by the success of the Baguio Cosplay Day held last October 29, 2023, as initiated by Quintin Tanseco, a subsector representative at the Baguio Tourism Council.
The ordinance aims to ensure that the festival will be held yearly by funding the event. Organizers plan to paint a mural in Legarda in honor of the cosplayers. Part of their future plans includes holding a World Busking Day, where they will invite cosplayers from around the world to participate. By Joan Dalacan and Janine Laureta
