Dragon Con 2025 Was a Enjoyable, Motion Packed, Household-Pleasant Daytime Event

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Trying to jot down about Dragon Con every year is truthfully the toughest column I’ve to jot down. That just isn’t as a result of it’s such an terrible occasion that I’ve to wrestle to determine what to jot down positively about it. Far from it – that is really my favourite conference I attend every year, and stepping off the insanely lengthy escalator at MARTA’s Peachtree Station actually imparts a way of ‘coming home’ every Labor Day weekend. It is just that there was a lot occurring at Dragon Con this 12 months that it was unimaginable to attend all of it and see all of it. I do know this as a result of, for the primary time ever, I picked one sort of occasion – little one and teenage pleasant content material – to attend as a lot as attainable. That was, after all, on prime of going to quite a lot of different actions throughout the day whereas nonetheless discovering time to eat, take a look at the distributors, see my buddies, and nonetheless attend some adult-oriented actions within the evenings.

Just to offer an thought of the big variety of content material, let me inform you about my Thursday at Dragon Con. That day, I flew into Atlanta, and I attended Sherrilyn Kenyon and Friends: Costume & Book Signing Extravaganza within the Westin to get my anthology copy of Dangerous Women autographed by Ms. Kenyon. Even although I’ve not learn anything by her, the fervour of her followers within the queue for her Dark Hunter collection was extremely intense. There had been so many different authors there as nicely that everybody stored being swarmed by Dragon Con attendees wanting to purchase books and get them signed. Despite me coming in with just one e book to be autographed, I one way or the other left the occasion with a number of extra books to take residence and skim by completely different authors.

After dropping off all my new books and deciding to not fear about get all of them residence till Monday morning, I ate dinner, attended the final couple matches of Dragon Con Wrestling, after which attended the 8-Bit Ball, placed on by the Video Game monitor that’s held on but a very completely different ground of the Westin lodge. At this live performance, the DJ spins music from the Seventies and Eighties whereas projecting sport clips onto a display screen. The music was superb, and I bumped into each long-time buddies, and I made a brand new buddy who got here wearing all white to go kill a king (it’s a Stormlight Archives factor!) whereas holding up a fan that stated “FAN SERVICE” on it. Just to reiterate what occurred inside 12 hours: I arrived in Atlanta, went to a e book signing, hit up a wrestling occasion, after which danced the night time away.

On Friday, I went to a FINAL FANTASY XIV Online fan-run panel on the Westin that talked about how the completely different fish in Eorzea inform facets of the sport’s lore that isn’t revealed elsewhere earlier than attending An Evening at Bree within the Courtland Grand. I’ve been going since 2014 to Dragon Con, and I’ve by no means heard of this family-friendly panel earlier than. Put on by the High Fantasy monitor, I noticed dwell music, a large Elf Choir singing songs in Elvish, and I noticed a fancy dress contest themed after The Lord of the Rings. An Evening at Bree was extremely child-friendly whereas staying enjoyable, and I cherished all of the completely different costumes folks had. That night time, I attended the Okay-Pop Dance Party on the Marriott the place DJ Tiger Scratches and DJ IC3NIN3 performed Okay-Pop music and music movies by the most well liked artists – and sure, it included music from Okay-Pop Demon Hunters. It was extremely packed whereas additionally being extremely enjoyable.

On Sunday morning, I attended my first-even Splendid Teapot Racing occasion on the Kids Track. Families include their very own RC automobiles to compete in an impediment course. There are few guidelines, aside from every automobile should be capable to drive by itself and there should be some teapot aspect to every one. Points are awarded for a way the automobile seems to be, the racer introduction (you need to introduce your self!), the way you full the obstacles and hazards, how lengthy it takes you to take action, and oh sure – how nicely you bribe the judges. I’ve by no means seen custom-made tea towels earlier than till I attended Splendid Teapot Racing and realized folks spend a lot of time determining bribe a decide for optimum factors in that class. Watching every little one and/or grownup introduce themselves and their automobile was extremely enjoyable – particularly when chaos erupted and the RC automobiles would typically shoot off in some random route on stage or knock over elements of the impediment course.

Continuing the theme of remote-controlled autos, I attended my first-ever Robot Battles occasion on Monday simply because the conference was winding down. If you’ve ever seen BattleBots on Comedy Central or Discovery Channel, you then already know what you’re in for: robots of various weight courses throw it down on prime of a large picket stage in Hyatt Regency VI-VII till they’re pushed off of the stage by their opponents or till they stop to operate. It is enjoyable, superb, chaos that’s replete with creativity. In between bouts, Gary Poole – the founder and host of Robot Battles at Dragon Con – would regale us with tales and humor, together with his reasoning behind why the Hyatt pool is now closed throughout Dragon Con.

Because I made the time to attend all of those occasions, I didn’t make it to any open filking this 12 months (assume home-brewed fandom music), any celeb panels past a single Back to the Future one, and I undoubtedly missed out on Sunday night time’s Masquerade competitors. What I as an alternative left Dragon Con with was a ton of recollections, numerous new books, and a dragon plush that’s sitting to my proper as I write this. And all of this to this point doesn’t even embrace me attending a Raspberry Pie live performance, a Silly Walk competitors, the Young Adult Literature Track’s Magic & Mystery Ball, or The Late-Night Puppet Slam w/ Bob & Carl (the final of which is DEFINITELY for adults solely).

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Next 12 months is their fortieth Dragon Con ever, and the folks in control of the conference stated throughout this 12 months’s closing ceremonies that at one level, they’d extra visitors booked for that Dragon Con than for this 12 months’s Dragon Con. Tickets are on the market now, and it’s best to completely go. When I made a deliberate try and see kid-friendly and teen-friendly programming that I ordinarily wouldn’t go to, I used to be simply shocked at how a lot of it there may be throughout the daytime and the early night time and the way merely enjoyable a lot of it’s. Dragon Con is, in different phrases, completely not an adults-only occasion.

All of this, put collectively, makes Dragon Con so arduous to jot down about in a very coherent approach. Ultimately, even when ‘your’ favourite present or fandom isn’t closely represented at a specific 12 months’s Dragon Con, there will probably be a lot to see and do and uncover that, for those who give it an opportunity, you’ll fall in love with Dragon Con simply as a lot as I’ve.

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