By Trudy Crowson

ATLANTA. Every year on Labor Day weekend, a mass influx of nerds from all genres, interests and ages descend upon Atlanta, Georgia for an extended weekend of a glorious display of nerdiness that the rivals football in the South. 

There are many conventions year round all across the country, but Dragon Con is unique.  It is a con for the fans, built by love and shared with enthusiasm. 

Just a few of the things that you can experience at Dragon Con are: a parade, cosplays, gaming, shopping, art shows, concerts, dances, costume contests, panels with guests from various pop culture franchises, panels about nerdy things like Drunken Hobbit Songs, Marvel vs DC Trivia, and Melee Weapons in SciFi.

“It was very neat to see not just Dragon Con people there, but also Atlantans, who was enjoying themselves and supporting the nerd community.”

Parade

On Saturday morning, the streets of Atlanta open up for a parade of con-goers cosplaying as various fandoms, i.e., Star Wars, Game of Thrones, 300 and etc. Different franchises are usually grouped together, with the exception of the Dragon Con over 40 group. Vehicles from pop culture shows and movies, such as the DeLorean from Back to the Future and The Ectomobile from Ghostbusters, are also featured in the parade as well as two marching bands. 

First year con goer, Kristiann Crowson says that she wasn’t prepared for the length of the parade.  She particularly enjoyed seeing the Resident Evil franchise part of the parade. She was also surprised to see the masses of local people there to cheer on this nerd spectacular. 

“It was very neat to see not just Dragon Con people there, but also Atlantans, who was enjoying themselves and supporting the nerd community,” she said. “You could tell who they were because they did not have the convention badges. Their children was also dressed up in cosplays and were so cute!”

Panels

One of the big attractions of Dragon Con is the panels with guest from the various pop culture fandoms and franchises.  This year, because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, the guests were unable to talk about much of their work.  The work around for that was the attendees were able to ask them about anything else.  Some of the questions ranged from how to get into voice acting, what is their favorite book, and who inspires them.  

This year’s panels allowed visitors a glimpse into the personal side of the panelists.  The fans and guests alike enjoyed the interaction. Some shows that were represented included actors from “Firefly”, “Buck Rogers”,” The Cuphead Show”, and “The Walking Dead”. Movies were also represented by great actors such as Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood and Sean Astin.

Dances and Parties

Dragon Con is also well known for its dances and parties. Twelve year veteran con goer, James Moncrief, said “I like all of the parties and the dances and stuff…there’s something to do every night.” Some of the dances featured this year were The Last Dance on Alderean, The Doctor Who Ball, Dance Magic Dance, 80s Prom Dance Party and Zombie Prom: A Magical Night of Brains.

“I like all of the parties and the dances and stuff…there’s something to do every night.”

If you didn’t want to go to an established dance, you visit the host hotels’ main floors and find people dancing and partying crowd style.

There were also many concerts that you could attend. Crux Shadows, Voltaire, The Cybertronic Spree, Frenchie and the Punk and Mikey Mason were just a few of many bands and artists rocking the con-goers into the night. Moncrief said that Voltaire is one of the things he looks forward to every year.

Cosplays

Cosplays are a definite favorite of Dragon Con. Many attendees pour countless hours of planning and creating the wonderful cosplays seen throughout the weekend. Even though she was expecting to see cosplays at Dragon Con, Crowson was not expecting the level of wonderment. “I wasn’t expecting to see the amazingly talented creators during the costume contest…she said…The children’s section was especially impressive. I enjoyed the creativity and the crossovers of series.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see the amazingly talented creators during the costume contest. The children’s section was especially impressive. I enjoyed the creativity and the crossovers of series.”

Community

The most unexpected part of Dragon Con is the community itself. Crowson expressed how “everyone was kind, helpful and giving.” Swag and seek is a popular event that takes place throughout the con. People make or buy things to give away to others by hiding the items in the public areas of the host hotels. Other people just bring things to give away because they enjoy the joy it brings to others.

Dragon Con is powered by volunteers who do everything from registration to loading the equipment for the shows. The volunteers share their enthusiasm for the con with others with their acts of service. Some work for months preplanning and working behind the scenes to make each year better than the last.

Cosplay medics are also volunteers at the Dragon Con. They go around the con repairing people’s cosplays that may have had a malfunction. Their goal is to help others to enjoy the convention when the unfortunate happens.

The community gives back every year by raising money for a charity. This year, over $200,000 was raised for Cure Childhood Cancer.

Advice

If you are thinking about coming to Dragon Con next year, both Crowson and Moncrief have parting advice.

“Wear comfortable shoes”, Crowson said. “Don’t be disappointed if you don’t make it to something that you wanted to go to…you’ll find some else”. The amount of events, panels and just things to look at are numerous.

Moncrief input “sometimes, there are multiples of an event, so you may be able to find it at various times, but if there is something like a William Shatner panel, there may only be one shot at it.”