Dragon Con, the internationally known science fiction, fantasy, and gaming convention, returns to downtown Atlanta for Labor Day weekend, bringing with it some 72,000 pop culture fans. The popular convention attracts fans from all 50 states and several foreign countries to meet their favorite actors, artists, authors, creators, and experts, show off their latest cosplay, make new friends, and revel in the joy that is Dragon Con.
This year's festivities begin on Thursday, Aug. 29 and ends five days later on Monday, Sept. 2 with events and activities across five host hotels – Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Westin Peachtree, and Courtland Grand – plus AmericasMart Buildings Two and Three.
Guests
A trio of living legends – John Cleese, Walter Koenig, and action movie icon Danny Trejo – lead a stellar list of more than 100 celebrity guests headed to Dragon Con. They will be joined by fan-favorite Giancarlo Esposito, Doctor Who's Jodie Whittaker, Marvel's Vincent D'Onofrio and Cobie Smulders, Disney princess Ming-Na Wen, Firefly's Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk, and comics legends Jim Steranko all coming out to meet fans, lead panel discussions, and sign autographs.
Karen Prell will lead a band of puppeteers from Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock television series – along with their famous Fraggle puppets – in sing-a-longs, panel discussions, and puppetry demonstrations.
For Gen X fans, Dragon Con welcomes the cast of the original 1980s animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles including Barry Gordon, Cam Clarke, Renae Jacobs, Rob Paulsen, and Townsend Coleman – all four pizza-munching, crime-fighting turtles plus reporter April O'Neil.
In addition, Dragon Con will host some 300 authors, artists, game designers, puppeteers, scientists, engineers, and other experts to lead panels and talk with fans across 38 tracks of programming, from high fantasy to hard science.
Gaming
Dragon Con, one of the largest gaming conventions in the nation, offers more than three acres of gaming in AmericasMart Building Three, plus additional gaming and game-related programming in the nearby Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.
Dragon Con will celebrate the golden anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons with special events, tournaments, and panel discussions about the industry-changing, imagination-capturing role-playing game that remains a tentpole for the gaming industry 50 years after its introduction.
Luke Gygax, son of D&D creator Gary Gygax and creator of D&D convention Gary Con, leads an all-star selection of D&D guests at this year's convention, including game designers Keith Baker and Amanda Hamon, writer Elisa Teague and professional dungeon master Jason Massey, who also hosts the Dungeons & Randomness podcast with guest Brianna Marie.
Current gaming sensation Baldur's Gate III, a faithful recreation of Dungeons & Dragons in video game form, will also be well represented. Voice actors Aliona Baranova, Devora Wilde, Jennifer English, Neil Newbon, and Theo Solomon will all be on hand to talk with fans, sign autographs, and lead panel discussions.
Dragon Con offers the full array of games including PC and console games, miniatures, role-playing games, collectable card games, social deception games, LARP games, and a basement full of familiar and rare board games, plus Japanese and classic American arcade games. All gaming is free to Dragon Con members and begins Thursday, Aug. 31 at 4 pm.
Parade
Atlanta's most colorful and always popular Dragon Con Parade steps off on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 10 am. The parade is free and open to the public.
The parade route remains the same as in past years. Beginning at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Linden Avenue, the parade will head south on Peachtree, east (left) on Andrew Young International Boulevard and north (left) on Peachtree Center Avenue. It will end on Peachtree Center Avenue between John Portman Boulevard and Baker Street, in front of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
The route is convenient to three MARTA stations – North Avenue, Civic Center, and Peachtree Center. Parking downtown is expected to be tight. Dragon Con encourages parade spectators to ride MARTA.
The 2024 parade will once again be televised live on Atlanta 69. Live coverage will begin at 10 am and will remain on air through the entire parade, with a time-edited rebroadcast on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 10 p.m.
There are a number of live streaming options. DCTV will broadcast the parade live on a closed circuit to the convention's host hotels, with rebroadcasts throughout the weekend. Parade coverage will also be available through Dragon Con's streaming membership available at dragoncon.tv.
Cosplay
Dragon Con is well known for the quality of its cosplay and that tradition will certainly continue. The nation's top cosplayers will show off their best work during the show, participating in costume contests every night of the convention and promenading throughout the five host hotels and the streets of downtown Atlanta.
Cosplay competitions remain a mainstay of Dragon Con, including the queen of competitions, Dragon Con Masquerade, the oldest continuously-run competition in fandom, the craftsmanship-focused Friday Night Costume Contest, and the low-key and fan-voted Hallway Costume Contest.
Official Charity
The Georgia chapter of Arthritis Foundation is Dragon Con's official charity for 2024. Through auctions, merchandise sales and other charity events, plus a dollar-for-dollar match up to $125,000 from Dragon Con, the convention will raise money to support this important organization.
Over the last decade, the convention has consistently raised more than $100,000 for each of its annual official charities – and more than $200,000 in each of the past two years – for a total of more than $1.3 million donated to Atlanta-based charities since 2014. In 2023, Dragon raised more than $270,000 for official partner CURE Childhood Cancer.
Currently celebrating its 75th anniversary, Arthritis Foundation is boldly pursuing a cure for America's leading cause of disability, which affects nearly 60 million adults and 300,000 children in the US, with life-changing science, resources, advocacy and community connections.
In addition to fundraising, Dragon Con conducts the largest convention-based blood drive in the nation. In 2023, some 3,000 fans donated more than 6,000 units of blood and blood products in the annual Robert A. Heinlein "Pay It Forward" blood drive, benefiting LifeSouth, which serves more than 40 hospitals in the Atlanta area and 110 hospitals in the Southeast.
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