The final night, the final party.  The highlight of the weekend - The Cosplay Ball.  Unlike the other parties the Ball started earlier at 7pm and had a formal dress code.  Either smart dress or smart cosplay. 

Animetion have not attended a cosplay ball before, so were not 100% certain what to expect.  Was it going to be a poor-mans ball?  Was the dress code really going to be respected?  Would the ball music actually be any good?  Thankfully, the night was very enjoyable indeed. 
 

While waiting for the second hall to open, everyone gathered in the first hall where free orange juice and snacks were laid out.  This was a nice touch as Amecon make no profit and all the money from registrations goes towards the organisation and running of the event.  Once the second hall opened, it was a different scene to the previous parties.  Balloons above the stage spelt out 'Amecon' and balloons were netted on the ceiling, ready to be unleashed later.  After a short speech, the music began. 

As soon as the music began, many people

 were enthusiastically ball-dancing.  Although a friends of ours pointed out everyone was doing a 'Zoidberg' dance (sideways dancing - ala' Dr. Zoidberg of Futurama fame), this did not matter.  Aside from a few couples, no could ballroom dance probably but who cares?  Nobody at the ball did and neither did we.  It was a great way to the end Amecon we thought, having people quietly dance and not getting rip-roaring drunk (well, not yet anyway...).  It was nice to be able to talk to the person you were dancing with, as you could actually hear them and this created a lovely atmosphere. 
 

Everyone at Animetion enjoyed a number of dances and, between dances, we were delighted to find that a man serving free Ferrero Rocher!  Class.  It was also good to see an opportunity to have a professional photograph taken in the rear of the second hall.  A photograph of you and your partner or with were friends - what better souvenir could you ask for? 

After two hours of ballroom dancing, mainly to pieces from the Final Fantasy games, forum member Chocokat came onto stage and sang a selection of anime themes.  Singing themes from Hare & Guu, Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzymiya and more this got the party going.  Chocokat singing was excellent and the themes sung fantastic fun, plus she started singing at around 10pm so there was more partying to come! 

What followed next was another AMV Disco to round off the night.  Although many of the tunes were exactly the same as the Friday night, this did not matter to the people on the dancefloor.  This was the last chance of the weekend to completely let your hair down, what better to let it down then more classic party tunes?  Come On Eileen and Walking On Sunshine to name a couple and God Gave Rock 'N Roll You to you rounded off the night.  People wanted more, Animetion wanted more but sadly it was the end of a fantastic night and a fantastic weekend.  We crawled back for a few hours sleep and woke up very tired but very pleased with the weekend's festivities.  Thank God we had taken the Monday off work! 

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