Blizzard will be rocking Cologne on August 13-17 at gamescom, when more than a quarter of a million gamers will gather to celebrate their love for gaming. For some, it’s enough to play, watch, and learn about their favorite games. But others are brave enough to go further and participate in Blizzard’s legendary costume and dance contests.

There’s still time to create a magnificent costume based on your favorite character from Blizzard’s universes. Last year we saw a lot of Diablo-inspired outfits, including a muscular barbarian and even Imperius himself. (You can check out photos from 2013 here.) Where will you find inspiration this year? Maybe a Hearthstone card…?

We’ll have great prizes as always for the top three entrants, including an expenses-paid trip for two to this year’s BlizzCon for the winner, provided by Blizzard and sponsor Paypal. There’s also a fantastic Alienware X51 gaming PC for the second-place winner, courtesy of sponsor Dell. But it’s about glory as much as prizes, so get cutting, stitching, welding, carving, painting, polishing, and blow-torching now!

We’re already accepting entries to the costume contest. Simply email gamescom@blizzard.com using either German or English, and with the following information:

1. Your name
2. Contact email address
3. Your costume (e.g. human Rogue, Protoss Stalker…)
4. A photo if possible (smaller than 2Mb file size)
5. Any other information about your costume you’d like to add (for example, what it’s made from)

Full costume contest rules will be available to all entrants before the competition begins. Entries must be registered with us by 23:59 CEST on August 7. We will try to accommodate everyone who enters, but for reasons of time and space we may not be able to fit every entrant into the contest.

If you’ve got happy feet (or angry feet, or excitable feet, or \m/ feet), you can join the Blizzard dance contest! This is where brave contestants take to our stage and imitate a World of Warcraft character’s dance, while a huge crowd cheers them on and a panel of judges (Blizzard game developers) decide who’s best. There’ll be prizes galore, including an Alienware X51 gaming PC, courtesy of sponsor Dell, for the winner!

You can sign up early to the dance contest by sending an email to gamescom@blizzard.com. Tell us your name, confirm your email address, and tell us which dance you’ll do (e.g. human male). You’ll also be able to sign up at the show itself by speaking to one of the many Blizzard employees at the booth.

Here’s some more information about the Blizzard contests at this year’s gamescom.

• The costume contest will take place at the Blizzard booth at gamescom on Saturday August 16, 2014, and the dance contest on Sunday August 17.
• If you participate in either contest, you are responsible for your own entry to gamescom.
• The contests are open to individuals ages 13 or over. Minors under 18 must have parental authorization.
• Costume contestants who sign up in advance will be contacted with more information before gamescom begins.
• Dance contestants will need to register at the Blizzard booth at least 90 minutes before the dance contest begins to confirm their participation.