How to Run an Ugly Sweater Contest
An ugly sweater contest lives or dies on organization, not on how strange the sweaters are. This guide gives you the categories, scorecard, ballot wording, timing math and prize budget to run a contest that feels fair and finishes on schedule.
Tap a few interests for each person (photo optional) → we draw names and hand every Santa gift picks they're more likely to love.
Start the draw →Set the ground rules before anyone arrives
Publish the rules with the invitation so people know what they are entering. Four rules cover almost every dispute:
- Score the sweater, not the person. Judges rate the garment. Costume makeup, props and personality can be part of a category prize but should not inflate the core scorecard.
- Judges do not compete. Anyone holding a scorecard sits out the scored contest. If a judge wants to show a sweater, have them walk for fun after prizes are handed out.
- One prize per person. If someone wins two categories, they keep the higher prize and the second place in the lower category moves up. This spreads the awards and prevents a single costume from sweeping the night.
- Entries close at a stated time. Announce it, write it on the ballot table, and hold to it. Late entries after judging starts create hard feelings.
Number every entrant at check-in and give them a card with that number. Numbers drive the runway order, the ballot, tie-breaks and remote entries. Use the same number everywhere.
Award categories and what wins each
Eight to ten categories is the sweet spot for a room of 25 to 50 people. Categories do more work than a single grand prize: they let more people leave with something and they give the audience a reason to look closely at each sweater.
| Category | What wins it |
|---|---|
| Best Overall | Highest scorecard total across all four criteria. |
| Most Creative | An idea no one else attempted — a theme carried through the whole garment, not just a printed front. |
| Best Handmade | Visible construction: sewn appliqué, knitted panels, crocheted trim, hand-stitched lettering. |
| Most Thematic | Best fit to the event's stated theme, judged against the theme announced in advance. |
| Best Couple or Group | Two or more sweaters that only work as a set. |
| Most Festive | Maximum holiday spirit, regardless of taste or craft. |
| Best Use of Lights | Working lights integrated into the garment and still lit at judging time. |
| Best Pun or Slogan | The wording on the sweater lands and is readable from across the room. |
| Judge's Choice | One discretionary pick per judge, announced last. |
| Best Effort | Rewards a wholehearted attempt that missed on execution; keeps a beginner in the game. |
Hand out the category list to judges in advance so they watch for specific things rather than trying to hold everything in memory.
The judge scorecard
Give each judge one sheet per entrant, pre-printed with the entrant number. Four criteria, each scored 1 to 10, for a total out of 40. Define the anchors out loud before the first walk so judges score on the same scale.
| Criterion | What judges look for | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Creativity | Original concept, unexpected details, a joke that lands | 1–10 |
| Craft and construction | Effort in making or assembling, finish, durability through the evening | 1–10 |
| Visual impact | Reads clearly from across the room, color and silhouette, lighting | 1–10 |
| Theme fit | Matches the announced theme and the event | 1–10 |
| Total | out of 40 | |
Collect scorecards after every heat, not at the end of the night. Stacks of cards get shuffled and entrant numbers get misread. Have one person tally on a single sheet with a column per entrant and a row per judge, then sum the columns. Two talliers who compare totals catch arithmetic errors before the winner is announced.
Audience ballot wording
Keep the audience vote to one question. A ballot with three questions takes three times as long to count and invites ambiguous answers.
Print this: "Audience Choice: which numbered sweater is the best ugly sweater tonight? Write one number only. One ballot per person. Ballots close when the runway ends."
Use a box with a slot so ballots are not visible as they go in. If you want a second audience category, run it as a separate labeled stack rather than a second line on the same slip.
Tie-break rule
Announce the tie-break before judging begins so no one argues about it afterward:
- Higher creativity score wins. If two entrants tie on the total, the one with the higher Creativity score takes it. This rewards the harder idea over a well-made version of a common one.
- If still tied, run a 30-second runoff vote. The tied entrants walk once more, the audience votes by show of hands, and the loudest clear majority wins. Count hands visibly and have a second person confirm the count.
Audience Choice ties are resolved the same way. Never break a tie with a coin flip in front of the entrants — it feels arbitrary and it reads as a shrug.
Tap a few interests for each person (photo optional) → we draw names and hand every Santa gift picks they're more likely to love.
Start the draw →Including remote entrants
Remote participants submit a photo of themselves wearing the sweater, front and back if the design wraps. Assign each photo the next entrant number in sequence and print it on a card displayed beside the photo, or post it in the group chat with the number in the caption.
During the runway, hold up each photo for a full 30 seconds and call the number aloud, exactly as you would for a person walking. Judges score the photo on the same scorecard. Remote entries count toward Audience Choice if the audience can see the photo clearly — project it or pass a printed copy. The fairness rule still applies: score the sweater as photographed, and do not give or take points for photo quality. If a remote entrant wins a prize, arrange collection or delivery in advance.
How long the contest takes
These figures assume about 30 seconds per runway walk, plus 5 minutes for audience voting and 5 minutes for tallying.
| Entrants | Runway time | Voting + tally | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 5 min | 10 min | 15 min |
| 25 | 12.5 min | 10 min | 22.5 min |
| 50 | 25 min | 10 min | 35 min |
Above 30 entrants, split the runway into heats of 10 to 15 and collect scorecards between heats. Two heats of 15 with a short break in between keeps attention up and lets the talliers keep pace. Treat the times above as estimates and add a buffer for walkers who pause for a photo or a laugh.
Prize budget
Three prizes at $10, $15 and $25 comes to $50 total. Five prizes flattens the spend and spreads the recognition — useful when you have many categories and a mixed group of first-timers and veterans.
| Plan | Prize amounts | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 3 prizes | $10 / $15 / $25 | $50 |
| 5 prizes | $8 / $8 / $10 / $11 / $13 | $50 |
Neither plan is better on its own. Choose three if the contest is the headline of the night and one big winner is part of the fun. Choose five if you have ten categories and want winners across the room.
Prize ideas
- A small trophy or engraved medal for Best Overall, kept as a traveling prize for next year.
- A gift card to a local shop chosen by the winner.
- A knit or novelty item that pokes fun at the contest itself.
- A ribbon rosette for each category winner, so every winner has something to pin on.
- A photo print of the winning sweater, framed and handed over the same night.
Running the night, step by step
- Check in and number entrants. Hand out number cards and confirm each entrant is in exactly one scored slot.
- Brief the judges. Read the scorecard anchors, confirm judges are not competing, and hand over the category list.
- Run the runway by heat. Call numbers in order, 30 seconds each, including photos for remote entrants.
- Collect scorecards after each heat. Tally in the background while the next heat walks.
- Open and close the audience ballot. One number per ballot, box closed when the last heat finishes.
- Resolve ties before announcing. Creativity score first, then the 30-second runoff.
- Announce from lowest category to Best Overall. Keep the big one last, enforce one prize per person, and take a group photo of all winners.
The contest runs on numbers, a printed scorecard and a stated tie-break. Get those three right and the sweaters can take care of the rest.
Drawing names too?
Pair the contest with a Secret Santa and hand out gifts after the awards. Draw names for your group: each person gets a private link that shows only who they buy for, the budget, and that person's wishlist.
More party ideas
Ugly sweater party · New Year's trivia · Christmas party games · Gift exchange games
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Questions
How many judges should score an ugly sweater contest?
Three to five is workable. Fewer than three makes a single judge's taste too dominant; more than five slows tallying and makes ties harder to spot. An odd number avoids split decisions on discretionary awards.
Can the host enter the contest?
The host can enter only if they are not judging and not tallying. If the host is also the organizer, keep them out of the scored contest to avoid any appearance of favoritism, or have a neutral third party announce and verify results.
What if two entrants have the same sweater?
Score both independently. Identical sweaters usually differ in fit, styling and condition, and those differences are legitimate. If the totals tie, the creativity tie-break applies as normal.
Should children and adults compete together?
Split them into separate heats or separate categories. A single scorecard scale across ages tends to favor adults on craft and children on charm, which makes the result feel arbitrary to both groups.
Tap a few interests for each person (photo optional) → we draw names and hand every Santa gift picks they're more likely to love.
Start the draw →Updated October 28, 2026