METROCON 2026 was held July 31 through August 2 at the Tampa Convention Center. This is one of Florida’s largest conventions and has become the ultimate destination for anime, gaming, cosplay, and Japanese pop culture. This three-day event drew over 18,000 fans to downtown Tampa for a fun filled weekend.
METROCON offers a diverse range of live-action stage productions which draw have become some fan favorites. The Dream/Fight Live show is a massive crowd-pleaser. It brings character rivalries to life through choreographed martial arts and theatrical stage combat. The Fire Show was a spectacular tribute to Elden Rings and the wrestling Kaiju was a sight to see. For night owls, the late-night programming running until 2:30 AM offered top-tier DJ sets and dance parties.
Shopping was another major highlight thanks to a massive, diverse Artist Alley packed with independent illustrators, crafters, and apparel designers. They also offered a variety of panels, meet and greets where you could meet some of the best names in the anime industry.
Our past cosplay coverage can be found here: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Unfortunately, the event continues to face several problems caused by it’s size. The main hallways of the Tampa Convention Center became frustratingly congested during peak Friday and Saturday afternoon hours, creating heavy foot-traffic bottlenecks between panels and the gaming hall. The fully cashless system for on-site registration caused initial check-in line delays on Friday morning, but those seemed to resolve themselves as the weekend progressed. And while mainstage events were well executed many of the smaller fan-run panels varied significantly in production quality and room audio control.
Cosplay photos are provided by a neutral third party with no opinions given on the event. Cosplay photos are provided to highlight the skills and enthusiasm of the photographer and cosplayers. All opinions and facts in the article are by the author.
Cosplay was once again the main draw of the convention floor and thanks to Nocedo Photo Media Group we get a first hand view at some of the fantastic costuming that was on the floor. This is only a small portion of the photos they took, so be sure to head over to their Flikr page for the rest.
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be sure to check out our Cosplay Convention List!
