METROCON officially announced today that METROCON 8 - Florida's largest anime convention - will take place on the weekend of July 23-25, 2010, at the Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa.

Pre-Registration is now open for purchase of both regular Weekend Passes and a maximum of 200 VIP Weekend Passes. Additionally, advance tickets are available for the Fantasy Masquerade. Be advised that, if all 1500 Fantasy Masquerade tickets are sold online, they will not be available at the door. Pricing is as follows:

VIP Pass (max. 200) - $100.00

Metrocon Adult Weekend Pass -
Tier 1: $40.00 from 01/01/2010 to 01/31/2010
Tier 2: $43.33 from 02/01/2010 to 03/27/2010
Tier 3: $46.66 from 03/28/2010 to 05/09/2010
Tier 4: $50.00 from 05/10/2010 to 06/26/2010
Fantasy Masquerade (max. 1500) - $10.00

See the Registration Page on the convention website for Group Pricing.

At the Door Prices:
Weekend Pass:
Adult: $55.00

Day Pass:
Friday
Adult: $25.00
Child: $10.00 Saturday
Adult: $30.00
Child: $10.00
Sunday
Adult: $25.00
Child: $10.00

METROCON is a weekend-long celebration of the numerous facets of Japanese popular entertainment - from anime (Japanese animation), manga (Japanese comics), J-pop and J-Rock (Japanese pop and rock music, performed by "idols") to cosplay (costume design and performance) and video games.

Events at METROCON this year includes: - The "Anime Human Chess Match"- Year 7, "The Fantasy Masquerade" formal ballroom dance, "Anime Idol" J-Pop/J-Rock Competition; - A "gong show style" cosplay competition and a costume contest; dealers'/exhibition room; - Artists' Alley; "DDR Extreme" Tournaments; - An Anime Music Video contest; - Official convention screenings of new North American releases; - Panels with North American anime industry guests; - Live Celebrity Commentaries with the industry guests;- Dances and karaoke; - The METROCADE video game room; and finally, continuous hours of Japanese anime and related programming.

Visit www.metroconventions.com for more information.