Event rules and regulations
Please read these rules carefully before the event. All event participants are required to follow these rules while attending the event in order to ensure everyone’s safety and enjoyment.
Safety
The event complies with Finnish law and these rules, which are intended to ensure a safe environment for all participants. Safety and order are supervised by security stewards authorised by the police. Their instructions, as well as those given by the event organisers, must be followed.
Security stewards have the right to deny entry to the event area and, where necessary, remove from the event area any person who fails to comply with these rules, Finnish law or the anti-harassment policy, or who otherwise causes a disturbance. Tickets will not be refunded for persons removed from the event.
Security stewards also have the right, where necessary, to inspect persons entering the event area and/or their belongings, and to confiscate prohibited items or substances.
Behaviour
Kotae Expo wants to provide a pleasant and safe event for everyone. Bullying and harassment have no place at our event, so please remember to treat everyone with respect while attending.
If you experience bullying or harassment at the event, please contact a security steward or an anti-harassment contact person without delay. The contact details for the anti-harassment contact personnel will be updated before the 2026 event.
Clothing
The dress code is free, but mandatory. Please note that Kotae Expo is an all-ages event open to everyone. Appropriate clothing must therefore be worn.
Cosplay and costumes must be designed so that neither the costume nor any part of it can be used to cause harm to other people. Please note that you may need to show your face when your identity needs to be verified, particularly when attending age-restricted programme items.
Wearing or displaying symbols as part of a costume that are incompatible with Kotae’s values and express hatred towards other groups of people is prohibited without separate permission. Regardless of the costume, behaviour intended to frighten or cause distress to other visitors is prohibited.
Props
Weapon Replicas
Bringing any item that can be used to harm another person to the event is prohibited under the Finnish Public Order Act, even if the item is part of a costume.
Section 10 § of the Public Order Act
Possession of objects and substances suitable for injuring another person
The possession in a public place of the following objects or substances intended or suitable for seriously injuring another person is prohibited:
edged weapons, broken glass objects and other comparable objects suitable for cutting or stabbing;
batons, chains, bows, wires, cables, baseball bats and other comparable objects suitable for striking;
darts, balls and other comparable objects suitable for throwing;
corrosive substances and substances suitable for seriously injuring or incapacitating another person;
air guns, spring-operated weapons, harpoons, slingshots, blowpipes and other comparable objects suitable for shooting;
laser pointers that are hazardous to health.
The possession in a public place of objects that misleadingly resemble a firearm or explosive device is prohibited.
If your costume includes a weapon replica or another long prop that forms an essential part of the costume, you must not point it at other people or wave it around at the event. Please also note that no part of a costume that resembles a sword or other bladed weapon may be sharpened. Firearm replicas must be clearly marked (see instructions below).
Magazines of airsoft guns must be empty, and the guns must be without batteries or gas. Even marked weapons must never be pointed at other visitors. The barrels of all objects resembling firearms must be blocked.
Marking of Weapon Replicas
All objects and props resembling weapons must be inspected by the security stewards upon arrival at the event.
Objects that have been inspected and approved will be marked by the security stewards with a marking that must not be removed from the item while at the event. If the marking becomes detached for any reason, the item must immediately be taken for re-inspection.
If you see a firearm replica at the event that has not been marked in accordance with these instructions, please contact security without delay so that the replica can be inspected.
Please remember to transport objects that closely resemble weapons to the event in a carrying case or otherwise covered. Objects resembling weapons may only be openly displayed inside the event venue.
Other props
Kotae has plenty of space for displaying larger costumes and props, particularly in Hall A. However, please make sure that all your props are made of soft materials and designed so that they cannot cause harm to other people under any circumstances, even accidentally.
There are areas at the venue where access with large costumes or props is prohibited. During your visit to these areas, you can store your props free of charge in the oversized-item cloakroom located in Hall A.
Intoxicants
Kotae Expo is a substance-free event.
Possession of alcohol is prohibited in the event area, and intoxicated persons are not welcome at the event. Intoxicated visitors will be asked to leave the event area, and prohibited substances may be confiscated where necessary. Illegal drugs will always be reported to the police.
Please remember that if you consume alcohol outside the event, for example at an age-restricted evening party, you are not welcome to return to the event area or event accommodation while intoxicated.
Smoking and vaping are only permitted outdoors in designated areas.
Passageways and Open Areas
Passageways must be kept clear at all times. Stairwells are not intended for sitting or photography, and visitors may not camp out in lobbies or corridors. There are plenty of areas around the event specifically intended for hanging out.
Other Things to Note
Unfortunately, pets cannot be brought to the event venue. Animals must also not be left unattended in the immediate vicinity of the event area, even if the animal is accustomed to doing so. Guide and assistance dogs are, naturally, welcome inside the venue as well.
Attaching advertisements, flyers, stickers or other materials to the walls or other surfaces of the event area using tape or any other means is prohibited without a separate agreement with the event organiser.
Commercial activities, including the distribution of free samples and similar materials, are restricted at the event and must always be agreed upon separately with the event organisers. The distribution of any party-political material or material that is incompatible with Kotae Expo’s values is prohibited at the event.
Let’s keep the event area clean and dispose of your rubbish in the appropriate bins. Please also remember to recycle and sort your waste whenever possible!
Noise levels at the event may become considerably high. For this reason, playing music from personal devices is not permitted.
The use of drones and other unidentified flying objects in the event area is prohibited without separate permission agreed upon in advance with the event organisation.
Bicycles, skateboards, scooters, kick scooters, hoverboards and other similar boards or devices used for transportation are prohibited in the event area. Please leave your means of transport parked outside the event area.
