Dragon Con 2023: Know Before You Go

Are you ready for Dragon Con?? I am! It’s officially Dragon Con Week and I’m so excited because starting tomorrow (and maybe tonight lol), downtown Atlanta will be flooded with about 65,000 Cosplayers, Gamers and Pop Culture Fans!

Dragon Con, the internationally known science fiction, fantasy, and gaming convention, runs from Thursday, August 31st to Monday, Sept. 4th with events and activities across five host hotels – Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Westin Peachtree, and Cortland Grand (formerly Sheraton Atlanta) – and Americas Mart Buildings Two and Three.

Guests – Cultural icon George Takei, fan favorites Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, and Andy Serkis, the performance capture specialist known for bringing monsters to life are among the most recognizable stars and celebrity guests headed to Dragon Con this year, leading a legion of actors who are well known to fans for their work in television, animation, and movies.

They will be joined by Paul Bettany, Freddie Prinze Jr, Gina Torres, Adrianne Palicki, Anson Mount, D.B. Woodside, Ian Anderson, Tom Cavanagh, Caity Lotz, Jewel Staite, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Katherine McNamara, Lauren German, Eddie McClintock, The Ghost Brothers and 1970s action tv stars Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner. In all, there will be more than 100 actors on site leading panels, signing autographs and taking photos.

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.

Star Trek Shatner Dolls at Dragon Con 2022

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.

Gaming – Dragon Con, one of the largest gaming conventions in the nation, offers more than three acres of gaming in Americas Mart Building Three, plus additional gaming and game-related programming in the nearby Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.

This year, gamers headed to Dragon Con will get a chance to experience Magic The Gathering’s newest new edition, Wilds of Eldraine, before it hits store shelves this fall.  The convention will have special Magic The Gathering tournaments featuring the new Wilds of Eldraine edition as well as the recently released Lord of the Rings edition, which garnered worldwide attention when it was released in June. Fans will have exclusive access to purchase starter and expansion packs for Wilds of Eldraine, as well as tournament packs for Lord of the Rings. A full slate of Commander League, Convention League, Drafts, and Sealed Commander events will also be available.

The popular Artemis Bridge Game, in which eight players man the bridge of a USS Enterprise-like starship through its galactic adventures, is returning with two bridges, allowing cooperation or head-to-head competition.

From the latest video games to the most popular tabletop games, plus Japanese and classic American arcade games, ‘round the clock gaming is free to Dragon Con members starting Thursday, Aug. 31 at 4 pm.

Parade – The fan-favorite Dragon Con Parade kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 10 am ET. 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 2023 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. 3 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 for $10. Click here to purchase a streaming membership.

Official Charity – CURE Childhood Cancer is Dragon Con’s official charity for 2023. Through auctions, merchandise sales and other charity events, plus a dollar-for-dollar match up to $100,000 from Dragon Con, the convention will raise money to support this important organization.

Since 2013, the convention has consistently raised more than $125,000 for each of its annual official charities. In 2022, Dragon Com raised more than $206,000 for official partner Open Hand Atlanta.

In addition to fundraising, Dragon Con conducts the largest convention-based blood drive in the nation. In 2022, over 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.

Photo Ops – One highlight of Dragon Con is the opportunity to take photos with your favorite celebrities. Click here for photos ops schedules and information!

Tips and Tricks

You can never be too prepared for Dragon Con. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk. Bring a backpack or big bag with the following items and you will be set!

• Mask (masks are not required this year but better to be safe than sorry)
• Cash – many vendors (especially in the Walk of Fame) are Cash only
• Portable charger/battery back-up (keep that phone and camera charged)
• Refillable water bottle (the hotels provide water in the panel rooms so bring a water bottle to stay hydrated and fill up)
• Protein bars, snacks
• Lanyard – Don’t lose that badge! Lanyards aren’t provided so bring your favorite one with you
• Sharpie/pens (you never know who you might bump into)
• Poster tube or plastic covers for Autographs/posters
• Sewing kit, safety pins (especially if you are a Cosplayer)
• Sunscreen
• Umbrella
• Extra shirt to change
• Hand Sanitizer
• Lysol wipes
• Advil/Tylenol
• Vitamin C (start staking them now to build up that immune system)
• Hair ties
• Lip Balm

Purchase a Badge

Click here to purchase a badge for this year’s Dragon Con. The prices are listed below. Come join the fun!

• 5-day pass: $175
• Thursday only: $35
• Friday only: $55
• Saturday only: $75
• Sunday only: $65
• Monday only: $35

Dragon Con Streaming Pass

Can’t make it to Dragon Con? No problem! Dragon Con Goes Virtual features overlapping coverage of the live convention and exclusive programming just for the platform from the amazing fan tracks, for only $10. Click here to purchase a streaming pass!

You can keep up with Dragon Con on Instagram @DragonCon and you can keep up with my shenanigans on Instagram @LisaGetsLit  and @NiceGirlsTV. I hope to see you this weekend. Happy Dragon Con!

About Dragon Con:

Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day Weekend (Aug. 31 -Sept. 4, 2023) in Atlanta. Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than 3,500 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over four days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.