Arts and Culture
Arts and Culture

Dragon Con breaks attendance record with 70,000 earthlings

Rebecca Camp of Cartersville attended her fifth Dragon Con over the holiday weekend. Outfitted as Wonder Woman, she walked along Peachtree Street Friday, presumably not having to go far to convene with other superheroes. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: hpousner

Credit: hpousner

Rebecca Camp of Cartersville attended her fifth Dragon Con over the holiday weekend. Outfitted as Wonder Woman, she walked along Peachtree Street Friday, presumably not having to go far to convene with other superheroes. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
By hpousner
Sept 8, 2015

The Dragon Con universe is getting to be quite the populous place.

Officials for the sci-fi, fantasy, pop culture and gaming convention that takes over five downtown Atlanta convention hotels every Labor Day weekend announced Tuesday that this year's edition drew a record of more than 70,000 (mostly costumed) attendees.

That burst to smithereens the old high, set just last year, of more than 62,000 fans. In 2013, Dragon Con drew 57,000.

If you were in the thick of the throng over the weekend -- whether in the cheek-to-jowl hotel lobbies, the expanded yet still packed Dragon Con Vendor Halls in AmericasMart's Building Two or even amid the gridlocked sidewalks downtown -- the news of the new record will come as no surprise.

One of the positives from that assemblage of humanity (and other unidentifiable creatures) is that the con raised more than $100,000 for the Lymphoma Research Foundation, this year's designated charity.

Final figures are not in yet for those donations, nor for the Robert A. Heinlein "Pay It Forward" Blood Drive, which collected 3,292 units from 3,893 donors in 2014.

Dragon Con will return from Sept 2 to 5 in 2016.

About the Author

hpousner
More Stories

Keep Reading

Earlybirds Club has taken flight as part of the new trend dubbed “soft clubbing.” In Atlanta and elsewhere, revelers are drinking less and sleeping more, but they still enjoy cutting loose at dance parties and other fun gatherings. (Courtesy of Earlybirds Club)

Credit: (Courtesy of Earlybird Club)

‘Soft clubbing’ parties, where you can skip the headaches, are trending

People may be drinking less and sleeping more, but they still want to go out. That explains the trend dubbed “soft clubbing,” where dancing and gatherings start and end early.

The Latest

Earlybirds Club has taken flight as part of the new trend dubbed “soft clubbing.” In Atlanta and elsewhere, revelers are drinking less and sleeping more, but they still enjoy cutting loose at dance parties and other fun gatherings. (Courtesy of Earlybirds Club)

Credit: (Courtesy of Earlybird Club)

‘Soft clubbing’ parties, where you can skip the headaches, are trending

Huzzah! Georgia Renaissance Festival marks its 40th anniversary

New Flannery O’Connor treasures found in time for centennial celebration

Featured

Former Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman talks to her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, after she testified before the U.S. House Select Committee at its fourth hearing on its Jan. 6 investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

Credit: TNS

OPINION

The 2020 election interference case is gone, but it can’t be forgotten

The decision by a Georgia prosecutor not to pursue the massive Trump election interference case leaves some bad deeds unpunished.

Officials to install opioid reversal kits in Georgia’s public schools

The kits will contain Narcan, which can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and restore breathing.

Odom-led comeback nets Conference USA championship for Kennesaw State

The Owls continue to be one of the most intriguing stories of the season, going from a two-win season to a conference title and beating the defending league champions.