Festival code of conduct

GENERAL | FESTIVAL GROUNDS | VOLUNTEERS | ITEMS | FORBIDDEN ITEMS | BEHAVIOR | PHOTO- AND VIDEOGRAPHY | APPAREL | FOOD AND DRINKS | SANCTIONS

Festivals attract very diverse crowds, and unfortunately things can happen. To avoid unpleasant situations, we ask that all festival visitors follow these rules.

General

1. These rules apply to all venues of the AniMatsuri festival (hereinafter: festival or AniMatsuri) from its start to its end.

2. The start of the festival is the time at which the first visitor is admitted to the venue. The end of the festival is when the last visitor leaves the venue.

3. If this ruleset conflicts with the venue’s rules, then the venue’s rules apply.

4. This ruleset regulates the behavior of the festival’s organizers, team, volunteers, and visitors.

5. Exceptions to this ruleset can be made with the permission of the festival’s head organizer, unless stated otherwise.

Festival grounds

1. The festival venue includes all rooms that are used to conduct the festival.

2. The festival venue is split into three zones.

2.1. The venue’s first zone is open during the festival to organizers, team members, volunteers, and visitors. A visitor is a person with a valid festival pass, or one who has been admitted to the festival by special permission. Special permissions are issued only by the head organizer.

2.2. The festival’s second zone includes areas which require special permissions to enter. These are open to organizers, team members, specially permitted volunteers, and persons who have purchased special passes.

2.3. The third zone is open only to volunteers, team members and organizers.

3. Pre-school-age children are only allowed to attend the festival if they are accompanied by someone aged 15 and above. The companion is responsible for the behavior of the preschooler.

4. Wearing a mask is strongly recommended in the festival area. The mask must cover both the mouth and nose. If the mask has a wire, it is at the top of the mask. The wire should sit tight around the nose. The bottom of the mask should fit under the chin.

4.1. If you have any other chronic illnesses with similar symptoms to COVID, wearing a mask is mandatory.

5. If you have fallen ill, be it COVID-19 or the flu, please stay home. We want to keep the event as safe as possible for everybody attending. For a possible reimbursement for an unused ticket in case of illness, contact us at tickets@animatsuri.eu by July 20th, 2024.

6. Pets are not allowed at the festival grounds. There will be a lot of people and noise which can be very stressful for the animal. Exceptions are service, assistance and guide dogs who are accompanying their owner to do work.

Volunteers

1. A volunteer is a person who has signed a volunteer work agreement with the AniMatsuri organizers.

2. The volunteer’s special rights and special obligations are set forth in the volunteer work agreement signed between the volunteer and the AniMatsuri organizers.

Items

1. The festival organizers are not responsible for the state of items that people have brought along for their personal use.

2. The festival organizers promise to keep an eye on the items left in the cloakroom, but will not take responsibility for them.

3. If the property of the festival venue or AniMatsuri and its organizers is damaged, the person who damaged them must compensate the item’s owner for the full extent of the damage.

4. “Free hugs”, “Free kisses” etc. signs are not allowed at the festival grounds.

Forbidden items

1. Forbidden items are items that visitors are not allowed to bring into the festival venue while the festival is running.

2. Forbidden items include drones, alcoholic beverages, drugs, and weapons*. The festival organizers make the final call about allowing the items into the festival venue.

3. Forbidden items shall be immediately confiscated by the festival organizers. Confiscated items shall be stored at the ticket desk. Festival organizers take no responsibility for the state of the confiscated items.

Behavior

1. All festival visitors must be considerate to the well-being of other people. Behavior threatening the well-being of other people is called unacceptable behavior.

2. Unacceptable behavior includes psychological and physical harassment, erotic or sexual behavior, alcoholic or narcotic intoxication while at the festival venue, and ignoring the ruleset listed here as well as instructions of festival organizers.

3. In a state of emergency, festival visitors must follow the orders of the organizers.

3.1 A state of emergency is a fire, a bomb threat, an attack on the festival visitors or staff, and other cases that can endanger the festival staff and/or visitors.

3.2 A state of emergency is announced by the head organizer, the head organizer’s assistant, or the head of security.

Photo- and videography

1. By entering the festival venue, the visitor agrees to being filmed and photographed by media teams approved by the organizers (media will be wearing red team shirts) and agrees that all materials can be used (without paying the visitor) for commercial purposes in all video and photo formats, including printed media and television.

2. Visitors are allowed to take photos and record videos of other individuals if those people give their permission (in case of a preschooler, if the companion gives the permission).

2.1. If a company or the media wish to take photos or videos at the event, they need to get the permission from the organizers. To get permission the record the event, send an email to info@animatsuri.eu.

3. All visitors have the right to refuse being photographed or filmed by other visitors.

3.1. Exceptions are photos and videos taken from afar, where asking permission of everyone in the picture is not necessary. Other exceptions: cosplay competition participants can be photographed during the cosplay competition without their permission.

4. Taking photos during other events is regulated by the supervisor of the event.

5. In the case of breaking the rules mentioned above, the organizers and team members have the right to demand the deletion of the rule-breaking material.

Apparel

1. All persons within the festival venue must follow a dress style that is appropriate for a public place (for example ahegao is not allowed).

1.1. Consider that the festival visitors include underage children, so the clothing cannot be too revealing. Your clothes must cover at least your groin, buttocks, and the chest region.

1.1.1. For men, the minimal allowed costume is a sleeveless shirt and shorts. For women, the top part of bikinis and shorts/short skirt.

1.1.2. Under a short skirt, it is compulsory to wear short pants.

1.1.3. A visual guide for the apparel:

1.2. Weapons capable of firing (including paintball/airsoft/etc) and weapons not clearly marked as props cannot be brought into the venue.

1.2.1. A prop weapon must be clearly marked with a neon-pink strip at least 1cm in width in a clearly visible location, such as at the tip of the barrel of a prop gun. If the marking is missing or insufficient, staff have the right to add it.

1.2.2. Bows are allowed if they are part of a costume, but they must be unstrung, and any arrows must have blunt tips.

2. Costumes breaking the rules cannot be worn at the festival venue.

2.1. If the festival organizers feel that a particular costume is inappropriate, they have the right to ask the wearer to cover up.

2.2. The visitor is allowed to continue wearing the same costume after making the adjustments listed in the festival rules. The permission for that has to come from an organizer of the festival.

3. All questions about the suitability of the costume can be sent before the festival to security@animatsuri.eu. At the festival venue, the suitability of the costume can be judged by all organizers, ticket sale team members, and security team members.

Food and drinks

1. Visitors are allowed to take their own food to the festival grounds, however it is only allowed to the eat them at the specified eating area.

2. You can bring your own (non-alcoholic) drinks.

3. There are multiple restaurants nearby at the Widget Factory to get a meal, as well as a Coop store.

Sanctions

1. In the case of breaking the rules, the festival organizers have the right to apply sanctions based on the severity and characteristic of the breach.

2. Possible sanctions are verbal warning, confiscating a forbidden item (as stated in the festival rules) or an otherwise dangerous item, and removing the offending visitor from the activity or festival area. Item confiscation and removing from the venue cannot be applied together. Organizers have the right to make exceptions in this case.

3. In the case of possessing an illegal item** or illegal behavior** the festival organizers are allowed and obliged to notify the police.

4. Visitors removed from an activity with a registration fee or from the festival venue have no right to a refund.

5. Team members have the right to apply sanctions within their area of responsibility. Only organizers are allowed to remove visitors from the festival venue.

6. A sanction applied by a volunteer may be appealed to an organizer. A sanction by an organizer may be appealed to the head organizer.

7. If the offending visitor is a preschooler, the sanctions are also applied to their companion.

8. The organizers have the right to make exceptions in this section.

* Weapons are all items that are regulated by the Republic of Estonia Weapons Act (firearms, gas weapons, pneumatic weapons, throwing weapons, cut-and-thrust weapons, and electroshock weapons). Furthermore, the organizers have the right to confiscate all knives, knife-like items and other cutting items that can be used to do bodily harm.

** According to the laws of the Republic of Estonia in force at the festival venue