In Portugal, where I live, there is a Portuguese Cosplay Association (Associação Portuguesa de Cosplay in Portuguese) and I’m pleased to be a member of it. It was founded in 2010 and lately, APC as it’s called, has been gaining more and more impact in my country.
Our cosplay community is ever growing, especially this year due to the first Comic Con Portugal’s had, so it comes in handy to have an association who’s more than glad to help newcomers learn more about their hobby and different ways to do things! APC’s members are either cosplayers from the old days or from the recent years, and supporters who don’t cosplay but know some tips and tricks and deal with most of the bureaucratic part of the association.
APC is always enthusiastic about promoting and attending events regarding japanese culture, trying their best to show how much of a creative and fun hobby Cosplay is. They have a free service at events called SOS Cosplay to help cosplayers who had costume malfunctions on the spot. They also promote workshops about building props, sewing and doing skits.
In a country where prejudice remains regarding asian culture, APC sure is shaking things up a bit especially when they send cosplayers to TV shows seen by a lot of middle aged/elderly people!
Here is a video of Winter Masquerade Ball, a different night organized by APC to promote a closer community.
