Hire costumed characters
in Evanston.
Trained character performers in screen-accurate costumes for retail openings, family days, brand activations, and corporate events with kid-facing components.
Chicago corporate character work runs heaviest at Mag Mile and Fulton Market retail openings (where a branded mascot or themed performer anchors the launch crowd), employer-brand family days produced by Loop and North Shore corporates, and themed performers for corporate murder mysteries and immersive offsites at private River North and West Loop venues. We staff custom mascots for trade-show booth activations at McCormick Place, themed performers (period, prohibition-era, sci-fi) for corporate immersive events, and IP-safe costumed characters for Navy Pier and Wrigley family-day brand activations. Captains brief on Chicago winter outdoor realities — rotation, layering, hand-warmer protocol. All staff are 100% W-2.
Showcraft serves Evanston and the surrounding IL area with 100% W-2 talent, full insurance, and senior captains on every event. Evanston is the North Shore's university-and-corporate anchor — Northwestern University drives a year-round calendar of fundraising galas, partnership events, and Welsh-Ryan Arena / Ryan Field game-day brand work, plus the downtown Evanston / Sherman Avenue corridor hosts a real retail and dining event run. We staff registration and check-in for Northwestern alumni and fundraising events, sponsor-zone activations at Welsh-Ryan Arena and Ryan Field, brand ambassadors for downtown Evanston retail launches, and hospitality crews for Hilton Orrington and Hyatt Place offsites. Roster is bilingual EN/ES with strong polish — comfortable with university-affiliated and gala clientele. All staff are 100% W-2.
- Costumed Characters dispatched anywhere in Evanston
- 100% W-2 staff, fully compliant
- Comprehensive GL + workers' comp on every event
- COI naming your venue and additional insureds
- Captain on-site for events with 6+ staff
Costumed Characters at Evanston venues we know.
Other character experiences we offer in Evanston.
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Questions Evanston buyers ask about costumed characters.
What kind of corporate events use costumed characters in Evanston?+
Retail grand openings, brand activations with family-day components, trade show booth attractors, sports promotions, company family days, and corporate holiday parties in Chicago. Costumed characters pull foot traffic, anchor photo moments, and add a memorable layer to brand-led events in Evanston.
What's the difference between a Showcraft character and a Characters.io character?+
Same talent roster, different lane. Showcraft handles the corporate side — brand activations, retail openings, trade show floors, and corporate family days in Evanston. Characters.io handles consumer and private events. The performers are W-2 employees of the same parent company, with the same vetting and training standards.
Are your Evanston character performers trained?+
Yes — every Showcraft character performer in Evanston is a working actor with character-performance training (movement, in-character voice work, photo-pose discipline, guest interaction). They're not random people in costume; they're vetted performers backed by Characters.io's 18-year track record.
Are your Evanston character performers W-2 and insured?+
Yes. Every character performer Showcraft deploys in Evanston is a W-2 employee with workers' comp and general liability coverage. We issue COIs naming the venue and additional insureds. In California, the payroll structure is fully AB-5 / AB-2257 compliant.
Hire costumed characters in Evanston today. on demand.
Tell us what you're putting on. Quote in minutes, talent on-site in days. No phone tree.