Michael Jackson and Anime Chewbacca's at Dragon Con 09

' The force is in you' still rings in my ear as I recollect all the events from the four day Sci-Fi convention held in downtown Atlanta. The annual Dragon Con convention takes over four city blocks and is hosted by four of Atlanta finest hotels; the Hyatt, the Sheraton, the Hilton, and the Marriot.  Dragon con is the largest multi media and pop culture convention in the United States that highlights films, music, gaming, and 'of course' the multiple facets of the world of Sci-Fi.


Friday morning and lines wrapped around the Marriot for the celebrity panels of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner. Where the charismatic duo have an open Q&A with the audience members. Another big attraction of the celebrity guest panels was the Terry Gilliam panel that lasted for 2.5 hours where he discussed the untitled up and coming hobbit movie as well as his new film “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" due to hit theaters this fall.






With massive amounts of goblins, aliens, heroes, villains, wizards, and anime chewbaccas , it's hard not to be taken in a sort of awe of all the elaborate and intricate costumes you see at the Con. One that caught my eye and made my mouth water was this fully working coffee dispenser wings worn by a cute steam punk girl. I was taken by surprise when the sweet angel flew across the room and poured me a mug of good ole dragon joe.





As the night proceeded I decided that it was time for a little dancing with who else but the living dead.  I headed into the ballroom of the Marriot to the Zombie Prom where I danced the rest of the night away with the more ghastly version of my high school principal.

Bells and whistles were heard throughout Peachtree Street for the Dragon Con Parade, candies thrown from pirates sailing past the crowd, belly dancers, voodoo priestesses, storm troopers, the speed racer car, Adam West in the bat mobile, and the Ghostbusters, finishing off with a moving band performance by the Extraordinary Conceptions who swayed the crowd of on-lookers as the parade marched forward celebrating this years con.





Live music performances were held each night of the con including, Cruxshadows, Faith and Muse, and local artist MC Chris.



This year Dragon Con attempted to break the Guinness World Record of the most Michael Jackson thriller dancers. 900 plus M.J. impersonators, fairies, jokers, and flying spaghetti monsters came together to perform the dance version of Michael Jackson’s greatest hit: Thriller.

The show lights dim, the music fades away to silence, and costumes are packed away for another year, as the 23rd annual con comes to an end. As a three year patron to the con, this years convention was the most exciting, 'thrilling', and shatneristic Dragon Con I have ever had the pleasure to experience. Where else could you go and have every pop icon figure you've had the guilty pleasure of loving under one roof with thousands of people that will enjoy it with you.






 





For more information and ticket pricing: http://www.dragoncon.org