Dragon Con, the internationally known science fiction, fantasy, and gaming convention, returns to downtown Atlanta for Labor Day weekend, for more than 72,000 pop culture fans from all 50 states and several foreign countries, who come 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.
Dragon Con 2024 runs Thursday, August 29 through Monday, September 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. Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than 3,500 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming.
More than 100 celebrity guests including Giancarlo Esposito, John Cleese, Walter Koenig, Danny Trejo, Jodie Whittaker, Vincent D’Onofrio, Cobie Smulders, Ming-Na Wen, Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Jim Steranko will meet fans, lead panel discussions, and sign autographs.
Other African American actors of note include Tawny Newsome, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, and Michelle Hurd, from the Star Trek franchise, along with Star Trek: Picard’s Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Johnathan Frakes, John de Lancie, and Todd Stashwick; and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Dan Jeannotte, Melissa Navia, and Babs Olusanmokun.
The WB’s Roswell celebrates its 25th Anniversary with Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Majandra Delfino, Brendan Fehr, and Nick Wechsler. The 1980s animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles voice cast Barry Gordon, Cam Clarke, Renae Jacobs, Rob Paulsen, and Townsend Coleman will be on hand.
Dragon Con will host 300 authors, artists, game designers, puppeteers, scientists, engineers, including veteran NASA astronaut Cady Coleman and other experts to lead panels and talk with fans across 38 tracks of programming, from high fantasy to hard science.
The nation’s top cosplayers will show off their best work, participating in costume contests every night of the convention and promenading throughout the five host hotels and the streets of downtown Atlanta, including 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.
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 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.
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. Watch for it online on YouTube. Over the last decade, the convention has consistently raised more than $100,000 for each of its annual official charities. For more information, visit www.dragoncon.org and/or follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
