Truth be told, I don't like Sundays at conventions.  It is not because there is less items on my agenda for the day, quite the contrary.  Sunday is in a way, worse when it comes to working a checklist since you often have until five or six o' clock to get everything done.   

No the fact of the matter is, I don't want the convention to end.  But not for the obvious reasons.  No this weekend I learned a valuable lesson as to why I feel the need for StarFest to keep going.  Because truly, StarFest holds a greater meaning. 

Now we here at Girls of Geek did the usual on Sunday, we spent wads of cash in the vendor room, we checked out all the panels we could, watched the big names at Main Events, and like everyone else does late in the day, just hung out.  We took the opportunity during the downtime to record an interview as one of the last pieces we need for the upcoming season finale of Beyond the Stars and during that interview with a fan, a word came up that caught me off guard; friendship.  

Now that may sound silly and sappy, but the gentleman we interviewed, Carl, let us know he comes to StarFest year after year because he wants to see his friends, many of whom he has met over the years at StarFest.  Pretty simple I know, but Girls of Geek has now covered two StarFests consecutively, and I realized after that interview, just how many new friends I have because of this convention.  Carl is a great example.  I met him last year and had breakfast with him and we agreed to make that first meal of the day tradition.  We held ourselves to that, having bacon and eggs this year after MediaFest on Friday.  

But it doesn't end with Carl.  I spent so much time this weekend saying hello to so many people that I had not seen in some time, all because of this convention.  Now I get why I don't like the end of a convention, because all of these awesome people who share in the endless amounts of joy this celebration brings will go home and I don't get to see all of them on a regular basis.   

That's what StarFest is about, an endless joy that we all share with one another, and one that we share with the world when we walk out of those doors for the final time.  A joy that fades just a little bit, until we realize we need to recharge it and when that moment arrives, we are thankful because it's time to reunite once again.  

Until next year my friends.  I'll miss you all dearly until then.  

Saturday at StarFest, always the busiest day of the weekend.  Even at nine a.m. when the Girls of Geek team stepped through the doors the floor was packed with people in costume heading to their pre planned destination.  Already long lines were forming at the autograph tables, with Avery Brooks' table seeing people patiently wait in a line heading around the corner.  

For us, it meant one thing, time for a cup of coffee, then time to see the sights.  We started our day over at GameFest to see just how much it had grown this year and it did not disappoint.  Rows of televisions lined the video gaming room and all the seats were full as everyone took part in two player action.  We honestly didn't spend much time in the board game room, simply because we all felt like stepping in to observe might be rude or potentially distracting to these folks since they were so focused on their games.

Instead we opted to head over to ComicFest next.  For Daniel and Scotty this was heaven for them, with both bloggers dropping down some hard earned cash to own some incredible artwork.  There were some talented artists at this event, including a young lady who is only thirteen years old.  I make mention of her because what she had on her table looked like the work of someone three times her age.  But with our adventure to the outer reaches of the hotels complete it was time to head back to StarFest where the amount of people on the floor had nearly doubled in size.  The vendor room was utter madness, the atrium was near shoulder to shoulder, it was an incredible sight to see.  But after all the panels, and screenings and guests on the main stage we were ready for one thing, the costume contest and as always, it was awesome.  

There were some amazing costumes on stage Saturday night, and I have to say the junior category blew me away this year. Between the baby Yoda who did an incredible job wielding a lightsaber and the fully functional Transformer I knew we were in for a treat, since this was the opening category.  After that we saw it all, zombies, hobbits and even wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men.

Our night came to an end as we headed toward the doors but not before taking a moment to stop and watch the entire dance floor of the Federation Ball work it to "Gangnam Style".  Not gonna lie, it was pretty epic, since the crowd was being led in the dance by an excellent cosplay of PSY himself.  All in all, Day Two was a blast, but as I rest my weary head down for the night, I knew the end of StarFest was near.