There may not be two more disparate events that could take place in the same city at the same time as Dragon Con, the South’s premiere sci-fi and gaming convention, and the Chick Fil A Kickoff Classic. Hard to imagine the hordes of beer-swilling Alabama and West Virginia fans sharing the sidewalk with girls dressed as Princess Leia and guys dressed as their favorite World of Warcraft characters, but come Saturday that is exactly what downtown Atlanta will bear witness to. And city officials wouldn’t want it any other way.
Dragon Con was born in 1987 as the project of a local group of role-playing and science fiction fans. The inaugural event drew some 1,400 fans to the Piedmont Plaza Hotel and featured a smattering of Science Fiction writers, movie-music composers, and role-playing game creators. In the twenty seven years since, the convention has grown exponentially, with the 2013 version drawing 57,000 attendees, and more expected in 2014.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that the 2011 edition of Dragon Con had a direct economic impact of $40 million on Atlanta, a number that the founders would have scoffed at back in 1987. With most visitors staying downtown near the convention itself, the weekend’s events become their own miniature city within a city, albeit one more resembling a scene out of Star Wars than the Atlanta you’re used to seeing.
A Dragon Con attendee bridges the gap between football and fantasy
On the other end of the spectrum we have the annual Chick Fil A Kickoff Classic, the much beloved match-up of two Southern football powerhouses that draws its own, very different, crowd. This year the games feature national powerhouse Alabama and sometimes-regional powerhouse West Virginia in a game that promises to get out of hand pretty quickly for the Mountaineers, as well as a less ballyhooed contest between Ole Miss and Boise State, (who out of fairness, did beat local favorite Georgia in this very game several years back). It’s hard to imagine Alabama coach Nick Saban as being the kind of guy who would come within a hundred miles of 60,000 adults dressed as lizard-men and superheroes, but this weekend that’s exactly where he’s going to be.
The two games will have over 140,000 fans in the stadium alone, and you’d have to imagine another 20,000 or so who won’t ever step foot inside the Dome, instead being left outside surrounded by hordes of Spartans and Horned Toads, (and we’re not talking about Michigan State or TCU).
College football, if you didn’t know already, is kind of a big deal in the south. The College Football Hall of Fame will open its doors near Centennial Olympic Park in October, and the city of Atlanta, in addition to hosting the kickoff games, also has the SEC Championship and Chick Fil A Bowl every year at the end of the season. Needless to say, the sport brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to the city.
This annual meeting of very different minds encapsulates what Atlanta is trying to become as a city. Yes it is in the South, yes it loves some football. But it is also a tech hub, a burgeoning new capital of computer science where young people, formerly constrained to the Silicon Valleys of the world, are not only welcomed but encouraged to come, work, and live.
So for a look into Atlanta’s future, (and no I’m not referring to the people dressed as robots) and some of the best people watching you’ll ever have the pleasure of witnessing, make your way downtown this Saturday. Whether your idea of a good time is acting out Tolkien or laying hits on Tebow, you’re sure to have a weekend you won’t soon forget.
