Dragon*Con

I am so bummed that I didn't make it to Dragon*Con this year. Honestly, I just had too many commitments already, like the incredible Imagine Music Festival ( ← you have GOT to read that post) as well as the Decatur Book Festival.

BUT!

The awesome news is that a blogger friend at wanderlustAtlanta attended all four days of Dragon*Con and he's got such a comprehensive review of the event, that there's nothing left for me to do but link right to his post!

I've gone to the Dragon*Con parade several times in years past, and actually have never posted pictures of what I saw.

So will you allow me to post pictures of the 2013 Dragon*Con parade? It's not this years', but hey, it was equally as awesome, I'm sure.

Let's start with a bang:

No one can deny the power of Xerxes and the men of 300, with their deliciously hand-painted abs.

If you're wondering what Dragon*Con is, this is how Wikipedia describes it:

Dragon*Con  is a North America multi-genre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place once each year in Atlanta, Georgia. As of 2012, the convention draws attendance of 52,000, features hundreds of guests, encompasses five hotels in downtown Atlanta near Centennial Olympic Park, and runs thousands of hours of programming for fans of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and other elements of fan culture.

Every Labor Day weekend, thousands of participants and spectators cram into a few block radius in downtown Atlanta to have a good time. The parade is free and open to the public (the rest of the convention requires an admission pass), and that is where you'll find me when Dragon*Con rolls around.

Though I am in love with Jason Momoa, and have contemplated buying a ticket to the convention just to see his appearances, for now I just stick to the parade.

He is lovely, though, isn't he?? He starred in Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, Conan, and more:

I digress. We were talking about the parade, right? Yeah, let's get back to that.

Winding through areas of Peachtree Street, Baker Street, Peachtree Center, and more, costumed characters strut, play music, throw candy and gifts at the crowd, and delight us with the detail of their costumes.

They pull out all the stops:

Local businesses get involved as well, since it's a great way to promote your company. Netherworld Haunted House can be counted on to have a good float in the parade.

And there are always cool cars:

The Box Heros are definite crowd-pleasers:

And I had to grab a pic with the Ghostbusters for nostalgia's sake.

Speaking of me, yes, my costume is a homemade anime bit. I tried to get creative. My friend Tiffany joined me:

I found a new boyfriend:

And we'll go ahead and end with this delightful fattie:

Did you make it to the Dragon*Con parade or convention this year? What were your favorite parts?