Wrestling, science, art among 10 Dragon Con 2026 events to check out
Starting Sept. 3, Dragon Con will return to Atlanta for five days as it draws an estimated 75,000 people for the city’s largest pop culture convention. Fans will converge in downtown Atlanta to experience the convention’s 40th year of celebrating science fiction, fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music and film.
Weekend membership passes are still available with options for multiday and single-day attendance, with countless activities, workshops and parties to attend. The Dragon Con desktop and phone app will have a complete schedule of all activities as the convention approaches.
Start planning your itinerary early with a mix of these 10 events.
1. Dragon Con Parade
Dragon Con’s annual parade will once again draw thousands of cosplayers and fans to Peachtree Street on Sept. 5 to watch sci-fi and fantasy characters take to the streets of Atlanta.
The route begins at the corner of Peachtree Street and Linden Avenue, then moves south and takes a left on Andrew Young International Boulevard. It marches one block to Peachtree Center Avenue, takes a left, then finishes in front of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
The Dragon Con Parade began 14 years after Dragon Con started. In 2001, organizers wanted attendees to be aware of the two hotels in which Dragon Con took place and decided to route a parade through the Marriott’s front door, according to the organization’s website.
That tradition has continued for 25 years. A bonus: The parade is free and open to non-Dragon Con pass holders who snag a spot to observe alongside the route.
Parking is limited in downtown Atlanta. Attendees taking MARTA can get off at the nearby North Avenue, Civic Center or Peachtree Center stations.
10 a.m. Sept. 5. Peachtree Street and Linden Avenue. dragoncon.org/things-to-do/parade
2. Watch a late-night puppet show
What’s not to like about some foul-mouthed puppets? On Monday night, Dragon Con attendees can join the puppetry group Bob and Carl: The Sci-Fi Janitors for a puppet variety show with a slew of talented puppetry artists from the con’s Puppetry Track. This event is open to attendees 18 years and older.
Midnight. Sept. 7. Westin Peachtree Plaza, 210 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta.
3. Catch the Masquerade Costume Contest
Costume contests are a major part of Dragon Con, with themes spanning all sorts of niches. The largest of them is the Masquerade Costume Contest held in the Hyatt Centennial Ballroom. It includes categories for children, teens and adults, as well as separate awards for first-time entrants and people who have won competitions before.
Registration to participate in the Masquerade is open until 3 p.m. on Sept. 6.
Contestants will showcase their cosplay to a panel of judges and Dragon Con crowds that file in to watch or tune in on DragonConTV, a channel and streaming service that broadcasts fan-submitted content and live coverage of Dragon Con’s panels and events. DragonConTV is broadcast on the host hotels’ channels, as well as on-demand after the convention for those who purchase streaming memberships.
8:30 p.m. Sept. 6. Hyatt Regency Centennial Ballroom, 265 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.
4. Collect original artist sketches
About seven years ago, Dragon Con organizers began the kids’ sketchbook program to spark interest in comics.
At the Comics and Pop Art Alley on the second floor of AmericasMart Building 2, kids 12 and younger can collect original sketches from participating artists.
Jamey Reeves, the director of comics and pop art at Dragon Con, said there will be around 250 artists and guests at this year’s alley.
“With so much digital content out there, we wanted to have like a physical something to read in their hands,” Reeves said.
In the front of the Artist Alley, organizers hand out free sketchbooks. Participating artists have a special logo on their tables indicating that kids can approach them to draw a free sketch in the book. Reeves said usually at least 75% of the artists opt into the program.
“They just like to see an interest in comics,” he said. “I think that they just share that love and they remember themselves as kids and kind of want to do the same thing for kids at our show.”
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sept. 4-6. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 7. AmericasMart Building 2, 240 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta.
5. Root for robots
After a year of heated discourse around technology and artificial intelligence, it might feel good to watch some robots battle it out.
Robot Battles began at Dragon Con in 1991 and is one of the earliest robot combat events in the U.S. The brightest robotic minds will bring their creations to the Hyatt Regency for a fight to immobility in four robot weight classes. Feel the tension in the air as robots attempt to throw each other out of the arena.
Dragon Con passes are required to attend and compete in the battle.
Light Weight. 10 a.m. Sept. 6. Hyatt International North & South Ballroom, 265 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.
Heavy Weight. 11:30 a.m. Sept. 7. Hyatt Regency IV/VII, 265 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.
6. Explore the Science Power Hour
Dragon Con’s Science Track brings together scientists and science educators for events like Scientists vs Movies, Disaster Jeopardy and Dragon Con’s very own science fair.
This family-friendly event takes over a Marriott ballroom as scientists demonstrate their hands-on, interactive presentations. They’ve had physics demonstrations, lie detector tests, fossils, insects and even a forensics block, said Jessica Cail, a professor at Pepperdine University and science adviser for film and television who helps with the Science Power Hour.
This year’s presentations will include a fossil identification game; a microbiologist showing how immune cells recognize and attack an invader; a demonstration of how ground-based telescopes work; a person who will use sound waves to move objects; and a collection of spiders and bugs from the University of Georgia.
“I realize pretty much everything I do is trying to sneak science literacy vegetables into the toddler’s meal of entertainment, and I think this does that,” Cail said.
She has been attending Dragon Con for about eight years, and it always impresses her how much science there is to be learned from the panels and events organized by the Science Track.
One of Cail’s favorite events, though it may not be particularly educational, is the Science vs Movies panel, where scientists must defend “horrendous science” in various movie clips.
“The cool thing about Dragon Con is that, especially the science track, is they’re not just other scientists, because that’s just a normal conference,” Cail said. “They’re other scientists who are good at science communication, who are entertaining and often really interesting as heck.”
11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 5 Marriott Marquis ballrooms A601-602, 265 Peachtree Center Ave., Atlanta.
7. Cheer for Thursday Night Wrestling
On the opening night of Dragon Con, join in on some good, old-fashioned fisticuffs with DCW (Dragon Con Wrestling). Let your voice be heard alongside the DCW Hooligans as they cheer for and heckle the competition. Wrestlers decked out in their best cosplays will enter the ring to throw, flip and knock each other around.
7 p.m. Sept. 3. Hyatt Centennial Ballroom II-III, 265 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.
8. Play some board games
Whether you’re interested in video games or hourslong tabletop games rife with strategy, Dragon Con’s gaming floor at AmericasMart Building 3 covers over three acres and offers a variety of experiences.
Check out Dragon Con’s board game library, which offers hundreds of games from indie creators and top publishers. Gamers can purchase a board game pass for $15, which allows access to the board game library from Thursday through Monday. Throughout the weekend, there will be sessions to teach attendees new board games and other programming.
The gaming schedule for 2026 will be available on the Dragon Con app.
Sept. 3-7. AmericasMart Building 3. 240 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta.
9. Discover Splendid Teapot Racing
Grab a seat for some steaming competition with Splendid Teapot Racing.
This activity originated in New Zealand but has become an international favorite. The game involves racing remote-controlled vehicles decorated with a teapot down a course. This year, there is also a kids race.
Competitors will arrive with their own radio-controlled cars decorated with a teapot element. Each vehicle must negotiate the course and its obstacles within three minutes — every 10 seconds over that time limit results in deducted points.
Points are awarded based on appearance of the vehicle, obstacles and hazards completed and course time, according to the rules.
10 a.m. Sept. 6. Grand Ballroom at the Courtland Grand Hotel, 165 Courtland St. NE, Atlanta.
10. Take time to people watch
As 75,000 people from around the U.S. (and beyond) traverse Atlanta while decked out in cosplay, there’s no better opportunity to experience the depths of a person’s passion and excitement than people watching.
“You’re one in a humongous community of people who have similar interests, and the lack of judgment on anybody’s part,” Cail said. “You can just fully let your nerd flag fly.”