DRAGON*CON: Highlights From the Con

Dragon*Con, the largest multi-media convention focused on Science fiction and fantasy, was absolutely amazing this year. It took place in Atlanta, GA Friday, August 31st through Monday September 3rd and what a whirlwind it was. With over 3,500 hours of panels, workshops and contests, I decided to highlight a few of my favorite things from Dragon*Con weekend.

True Blood Panels – Nelsan Ellis, Joe Manganiello, Carrie Preston and Sam Trammell talked candidly about the show, behind the scenes, and other upcoming projects they have.

Notable quote – “I’ll be giving lap dances for $30 in the main hall.” –Joe Manganiello (at this point I was digging through my purse for cash and was prepared to skip dinner if in fact this was true. Unfortunately it wasn’t true, but still fun and the fans went wild).

Jason Momoa Panel– Jason talked about his roles from Stargate: Atlantis, Conan the Barbarian, Game of Thrones and his upcoming fight scenes with Sylvester Stallone in Bullet to the Head all while he was drinking beer. He was very entertaining!

Vampire Diaries Panels– Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley (Saturday only), Joseph Morgan, Sebastian Roche, and Nathaniel Buzolic created chaos amongst TVD fans on Saturday and Sunday. These hot guys were hilarious (and inappropriate at times) and fans couldn’t get enough (more details to come on these panels in a separate post).

Destination Truth Panel– Josh Gates discussed the hit Syfy show as well as his traveling adventures, creature hunting and paranormal experiences. This was a fascinating panel and Josh Gates was great!

11th Annual Dragon*Con Parade– Stan Lee, Dean Cain, Lou Ferrigno and many others participated in the parade Saturday morning. There were awesome costumes from zombies to fairies, storm troopers, trekkies, Captain America Dancers, knights, dragons and my favorite monsters from Netherworld Haunted House. A fun family event!

The Paranormal Illusionist– professional magician Aiden Sinclair put on a unique show that combined hauntings and magic and it was unlike any other show I have seen. Fantastic!

The Marionette Cabaret– the Puppetry fan track, which was new in 2012, did a live performance with cabaret style marionettes and it was fascinating. There were great stories, songs and comedy during this unique performance.

Dragon*Con Parties

The Zombie Prom– the Apocalypse Rising fan Track put on a Zombie Prom with zombies galore, a prom photographer and the crowning of the prom king and queen. Zombies know how to dance and party. So fun!

The Heroes and Villains Ball– This costume party sponsored by SOE and Guild Launch had a great DJ and tons of heroes and villains. This was one of the best parties of the weekend and lots of great costumes.

Yule Ball– the Young Adult Literature fan track put on party for all ages to wear their finest Hogwarts attire. They have a Harry Potter costume contest and the best part of the evening was there was over $1,000 raised for The Georgia Chapter of the ALS Association (Dragon*Con’s charity for 2012). It was a great event!

These are just a few of my highlights from Dragon*Con 2012. Everything was amazing and I can’t wait to do it all over again next year. Dragon*Con 2013 is scheduled for August 30th- September 2nd.