Dragon Con brings 'far, far away' galaxies to downtown Atlanta

Dragon Con fun takes over downtown Atlanta

It's beginning to look like a sci-fi movie in downtown Atlanta and tens of thousands of fans are geeking out about their favorite TV shows, movies, comics and games.

ATLANTA - What do you get when you take 75,000 science fiction and fantasy fans and invite them to celebrate their favorite films, TV shows, comics and games in downtown Atlanta?

When you do it over Labor Day Weekend, you get Dragon Con!

The massive — and we do mean massive — annual fan convention takes over several Atlanta hotels (Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Westin Peachtree Plaza, and Courtland Grand Hotel) through Monday, filling the venues with cosplayers, gamers, writers, and performers from around the world. The con was created back in 1987, and has grown into a can’t-miss long weekend dedicated to all things sci-fi and fantasy.

Fans attending Dragon Con can simply walk around and enjoy the sights, or set a specific plan based on a long list of fan-created tracks. Those tracks include events, panels, and workshops based around topics including animation, horror, puppetry, gaming, and blockbuster franchises like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek."

And, of course, it wouldn’t be Dragon Con without the Dragon Con parade, which is free to watch and steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday. Parade staging happens up at Peachtree Street and North Avenue, and the parade route continues south on Peachtree back to the area of the host hotels.

We’re Dragon Con veterans here at Good Day Atlanta, having spent many mornings inside the Hyatt Regency Atlanta interviewing organizers, attendees, and celebrities. So…why should this year be any different? Click the video player in this article to see who we caught up with this year — and click here for more information on attending Dragon Con.