General Koi Show Information
Annual Koi Show
The annual koi show is a great way to share our passion with the public and each other. Every year, koi keepers have the opportunity to show their koi and receive awards in different categories. Awards are won by novice to advanced koi keepers. Koi shows are fun events where we can all participate in a lot of koi talk and looking at some beautiful specimens of koi. Take a look through our specific koi show pages for list of award winners, videos and photographs.
What happens at the UMKC koi show?
Our club spends about a week setting up the venue. Vendors arrive on Friday and koi exhibitors bring their koi to the venue. All koi are “benched”, meaning they are measured, categorized and photographed by the scoring team. On Saturday, independent koi judges spend five to six hours judging all of the koi in their respective categories. Informative talks may be scheduled throughout the day. A group dinner with the judges is scheduled for Saturday evening, everyone is welcome to attend. On Sunday, awards are presented in all categories. After the awards presentation, the judges will do a “tank walk” discussing the various koi and answering questions.
How are Koi Judged?
Conformation -- This is ordinarily the most heavily weighted category. It deals with everything on the body being in the right proportions and without deformities, irregularities or infections. The koi should be fusiform (or torpedo shaped), being narrower at the mouth, widening around the shoulders and then tapering back towards the tail. Color -- Color is about depth and is often likened to coats of paint. Vibrancy and intensity are great traits, but the color can’t be “thin.” The color has to be “thick,” healthy (not dull or with portions of discoloration that appear with movement) and uniform across the entire koi.
Pattern --This essentially looks at how the colors are placed on the koi. The most critical feature is balanced in all directions—front to back and side to side. The color has to be sharp and crisp without bleeding into the other colors, with the pattern needing to be proportional across the koi.
Quality and Elegance -- This category is also sometimes called deportment. It is essentially the X-factor of personality and comportment, and is very much dependent on how the koi handles itself during the unfamiliar environment of the show on the particular day it is judged.
Imposing Presence --The “wow” factor that separates the champions from the rest of the crowd.