{"id":360957,"date":"2026-08-02T20:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/360957\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T20:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:21:07","slug":"metrocon-draws-thousands-of-fans-to-tampa-snn-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/360957\/","title":{"rendered":"METROCON draws thousands of fans to Tampa \u2013 SNN News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 Fantasy worlds collided at the Tampa Convention Center this weekend as METROCON stopped in Tampa for its 23rd year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels like even though you\u2019re strangers, you have something in common with them,\u201d said Heidi Craddock, director of exhibits for METROCON.<\/p>\n<p>Fans of anime, cartoons, and video games all came together to sit through seminars, meet new people, and get face time with some of the voices behind their favorite characters.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/news\/hillsborough-county\/turn-around-dont-drown-flash-floods-create-dangerous-road-conditions-in-tampa-bay\/\" class=\"promo-link__link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\tTurn Around Don\u2019t Drown: Flash floods create dangerous road conditions in Tampa Bay\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like meeting a superstar almost because they seem larger than life kind of,\u201d said con-goer Penelope Valsamis.<\/p>\n<p>Several cosplayers donned their most story-accurate costumes over the weekend as well, hoping to make an impression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like so exciting to have other people that share interests with you all in one spot,\u201d said Valsamis.<\/p>\n<p>Valsamis said she\u2019s excited to cosplay for her first time at a convention. For moral support, she brought her dad along as well \u2013 and put him in character.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/news\/hillsborough-county\/100-cars-block-i-75-in-street-takeover-4-arrested-florida-highway-patrol\/\" class=\"promo-link__link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t100+ cars block I-75 in \u2018street takeover,\u2019 4 arrested: Florida Highway Patrol\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all new,\u201d said her dad, Evangelo Valsamis. \u201cSome characters I\u2019ve never seen before, but I\u2019m doing what we\u2019re supposed to do as parents: support our children no matter what \u2013 and here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Convention goers say they\u2019re excited to find their niche interests on display. Henry Duffy said it\u2019s a place where he feels seen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf there\u2019s places that you don\u2019t normally fit in, this is a place where everyone is welcome,\u201d said Duffy. \u201cNo matter who you are, someone here is going to appreciate you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sunday was the final day of the 3-day convention. Cosplayers say they\u2019re taking home with them some inspiration they\u2019ll apply to their cosplay during the next METROCON.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 Fantasy worlds collided at the Tampa Convention Center this weekend as METROCON stopped in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-360957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}