After the excitement of the Championship on Sunday, you'd think that nobody would have any energy for anything else. But Monday was the last day, and everyone was determined to make the most of it!

While some of the teams caught up on their sleep or spent a last few hours sight-seeing and shopping in Nagoya, the Japanese cosplayers as well as the Japanese, Italian, Thai and Spanish teams headed off to Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers near Nagoya station for the Symposium of the World Cosplay Summit, entitled 'Cosplay Subculture - Japan and Abroad'. Here are the cosplayers and staff arriving at the event:

Everyone got comfortable inside the lecture hall along with other attendees of the Symposium. Three cosplayers get ready for an academic morning:

Once it got started, we had interesting lectures and discussions in Japanese from various speakers, including Ed and Jackie, about various topics including the origins of cosplay, events, and the future of cosplay, not only in Japan but all over the world. A short question-and-answer session, and then it was time for another photo session.

And who is that fetching red mech in the middle? Yes it's Ed, after a lightning-quick change backstage!
All the cosplayers together, including the Japanese championship team:

Coming out of the Towers after the Symposium ended, the cosplayers drew attention from passers-by on their way back to the bus. Here's one group obligingly giving a pose:

Once back at the hotel, the teams were free until the evening. Then came the very last event of the World Cosplay Summit: the farewell party!

Gathering in the top floor of a Sakae club, cosplayers, organisers and staff drank and danced all together, and signed each others' tshirts as souvenirs of an incredible experience.

The teams also got the chance to watch the professionally recorded performances from Sunday's Champtionship; since they'd been too busy backstage to watch each others' performances properly, this was very much enjoyed, and each performances got a huge round of applause!
Some more dancing (and drinking!), and then it was time for speeches and thanks from a very merry Ed.

Just when we thought the night couldn't get any more fun, we were treated to the TV Aichi band!

As you can probably tell, this went down pretty well with everyone!
Here's Kishimoto-san giving us his best Marc Bolan:

The final treat at the party was a raffle for great manga and anime-related prizes, which caused much amusement, as you can see from the USA team's expressions:

All good things come to an end. One last photo of everyone together:

Then the party finally finished; some of us went on to karaoke, while others, who were leaving very early in the morning, went back to the hotel to pack.

So that was the close of this year's World Cosplay Summit; it was a fantastic party, with everyone showing the same good humour, enthusiasm and spirits that have been the trademark of the event ever since the teams arrived last week! We've had the opportunity to meet new people, make great friends and see some truly stunning cosplay. I'm sure I can speak for all of us when I say thanks so much to everyone involved for making this year's Summit such a pleasure to be involved in!