THE PLACES BEHIND THE CROWDS
How Dragon Con grew into downtown Atlanta
Dragon Con’s first visitors arrived in October, at one Atlanta hotel. Labor Day and the downtown parade came later.
Several interests under one roof
The convention began in 1987 at the Pierremont Plaza Hotel. Its founders wanted to bring different interests together: science fiction, fantasy, gaming and comics could share a gathering instead of remaining separate worlds. The organizer’s history recalls an early show featuring fantasy writer Michael Moorcock and game designers Gary Gygax and Richard Garriott.
More than a thousand people came that first year. Readers, players and creators could explore different parts of the same hobby world in one gathering. The scale was much smaller than the event spread across downtown Atlanta today, but the mixture of interests was already there.
It did not stay in one place. The Daily Dragon’s anniversary chronology records a move to the Omni in 1989 and to the Atlanta Hilton in 1990. That year Dragon Con joined with the Origins gaming convention and moved into July. The event’s familiar calendar and geography were still taking shape. [1] [2]
Labor Day and a walk into the streets
Dragon Con moved to the Hyatt Regency in 1997. In 2001 it shifted to Labor Day weekend and added the Marriott Marquis. Those changes helped establish the combination a returning visitor now recognizes: a holiday weekend and activities spread among downtown hotels.
The parade grew in two steps. In 2001 an experimental procession took participants through the streets between hotels. The following year brought the first annual parade, according to the Daily Dragon’s detailed chronology. The organizer’s general history traces the tradition to the earlier walk. A convention based inside hotels now had a public procession that people outside its meeting rooms could watch. [3] [1]
The convention became a collection of places
As the program expanded, the Hilton returned as a host hotel in 2005; the Sheraton joined in 2007 and the Westin Peachtree Plaza in 2010. AmericasMart joined the convention’s footprint in 2013 for its dealer hall. Each addition helps explain why a Dragon Con visit involves checking a venue rather than simply finding one front door.
The pandemic interrupted that physical gathering. In 2020, Dragon Con ran virtually, including streamed programming and a parade assembled from participants’ recordings. In-person attendance returned in 2021 under restrictions. Those years belong to the history too; the convention did not grow in one smooth, uninterrupted line. [1] [4]
What the modern crowd number means
In its September 7, 2026 report, the organizer said 75,000 attendees took part in that year’s five-day convention. That is a whole-event figure, not the number inside one hotel, a single-day count or a separate parade attendance total. The same report described more than $320,000 raised for Hope Atlanta, the event’s selected charity.
For a first visit, the history offers a useful clue: choose the parts that interest you, then work out where they happen. The parade and the paid convention are different experiences. Use the current visitor guide for membership, badge pickup and transport, and check the year on maps and schedules before setting off. [5] [6]
The dates at a glance
- 1987 · The first Dragon Con opens at the Pierremont Plaza Hotel in October.
- 2001–2002 · Labor Day becomes the convention weekend; an experimental procession develops into the annual parade.
- 2013 · AmericasMart joins the convention footprint.
- 2020 · The convention moves online during the pandemic.
- 2026 · The organizer reports 75,000 attendees across the five-day convention.
Sources and further reading
- Dragon Con: organizer’s origin and growth history
- Daily Dragon: The Journey Begins, September 4, 2026
- Daily Dragon: Partying Like its 1999, September 5, 2026
- Daily Dragon: The Legend Continues, September 7, 2026
- Dragon Con: September 7, 2026 post-event report
- Dragon Con visitor FAQ
Research notes
Organizer accounts give different first-year attendance figures (about 1,200 or 1,400), so this story avoids an exact total.
The organizer’s accounts describe an experimental procession in 2001 and the first annual parade in 2002. Those are different stages of the tradition.
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