Dragon*Con 2026
September 3rd – September 7th, 2026
Atlanta, GA

Last year around the same time, I took a moment to look back and reflect on the last 10 years of my Dragon*Con experience. This year, I’d like to take some time yap a bit (ok a lot), be in the moment, and also look forward.

All things considered, it was a good year!

Honestly I needed it.
WE needed it.

Now, it wasn’t without its hiccups. I don’t know if you’re one of the many superstitious/mystical beings out there who subscribe to astrology, but Mercury Retrograde in Cancer felt like it collectively kicked our asses and in true Cancerian fashion, the energy decided to linger lol (sorry for the stray Cancers lol). FWIW, my zodiac friends also mentioned the two eclipses being a thing too so we won’t give Mercury Rx in Cancer all the blame (shoutsout to Razi lol).

This year, I watched people navigating grief, broken relationships, job insecurity, housing instability, car troubles, low funds, terminated friendships, travel interruptions, last minute cancellations (more on this here), and more toss all their worries aside and collectively reclaim their joy.

I’m sure it’s easy for somebody on the outside looking in to be like “Why didn’t they sit down somewhere if they had all of that going on?” but my retort would simply be “Why?”

Why pass up the perfect opportunity to experience some joy during a time where breaking news fills our timelines?
Why not amplify the good things in our lives?
Why not invest the energy we have toward seeking happiness if it isn’t readily available?

It’s easy to think of cons as an “escape”, however, I’d rather view them as a redirection. They’re an investment that reminds us that there’s more to our world than what lies before us when we’re feeling low. They exemplify figments of our imagination coming to fruition as tangible things right before us. We’re surrounded by stories, characters, and themes that spring from the minds of some of the world’s most brilliant creatives and we get a moment of respite to soak in those fantasies as they become reality. When Tuesday hits, it’s back to life… back to the reality we’re all too familiar with but we return a bit more rejuvenated and leave with something to look forward to in the future. I know I’m personally looking forward to spending quality time with my friends.

That said, there are some things I hope Dragon*Con works on for the next year. THIS was year 14 (I thought last year was lol) and I’ve seen plenty of large Dragon*Cons. Granted it was year 40 but the crowd was 10k less from what I’ve experienced at its peak pre-pandemic levels. I think we also hit 85k in 2024.  I’m not sure what happened with badge pickup this year but I’ve never seen it this bad and the amount of people couldn’t have been the only reason why. There also seemed to be significantly less late night programming and the usual meetup spot, Pulse Loft, was kind of lackluster from what it once was. I’m sure there are safety reasons why and there’s an ebb and flow that comes with cons but official alternatives and streamlined systems would be most appreciated. Speaking of which, major shoutout to Hilton and the Hyatt for getting their elevators together. Their staff did a great job reducing what used to be a guaranteed 30 minute wait just to get up and down.

Speaking of accommodations…. I’m dedicating a separate post just to the Courtland Grand. For those of you who don’t know they cancelled 217 reservations right before the con began and I was part of the group impacted.

I’d like to shout out the homie Allen (aka @blerdlines) for being the MVP of this year. Allen is the unsung hero who’s quietly enhanced all of your con experiences and you didn’t even know. He deserves his roses! For YEARS (since 2017)… Allen would host lil mini pop up parties around the con and for YEARS he’d be asked to change locations all while staff let others do the exact same thing in the same spots we were. That never stopped him and last year we finally found a spot where they’d let us carry on unbothered (shoutsout to the Marriott security and the staff that directed us there). If you had a good time in the Marriott this year, definitely send him some love. Also HUGE BIG UPS to DJ Flexx Rated and Big Tony for donating their time and energy to power the vibes captured in so many people’s content this year. It wasn’t planned. What started off as bluetooth speakers with the aux on Thursday, grew into a full blown nightly party with those two on the decks going until 5AM in the morning by Sunday night. Teamwork makes the dream work and you too really helped curate a vibe that would have sorely been missed. Follow them to stay up on their moves until next year’s con..

Community means we work and build as a group though. There’s so many others who’ve curated some of your best Dragon*Con experiences and filled voids for blerds who long hoped for some programming and pop ups that spoke to us a little more.

Big Ups To:

• @swaggycosplayer (you’ve definitely pulled up on a pop up party of his and he had it going this year too lol)
• @cosplayyourway
• @dcblackgeeks
• @cosplaysbyshinobi

Quick note about the shots below. This year I put intention behind captures that were similar to my early days of shooting. While there’s a ton of posed shots in here, I also wanted my captures to primarily reflect my con experience.  As such, I spent my con hanging with friends old & new, going on sidequests, and finding good vibes.  This year’s captures reflect this experience.

OH YEAH!!! Shouts out to POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!!! GVNG GVNG!!! (Dred, Razi, Arnell, Allen, KP it was a good con!)

As always, if we met for the first time, DON’T BE A STRANGER! If you see me out and bout and recognize me, say wassup! I’ll do the same! Don’t hesitate to reach out on IG as well. It was a pleasure meeting you all.

Feel free to download and share but please credit @GXFTD as the photographer.

Right-Clicking and selecting ¨Open Image In New Tab¨ will allow you to see the larger version of the images (long press if you’re on mobile for the download option).

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*If you’re looking for a certain shot(s) from Thursday night… (really any late night) hit me directly lol. It’s too much for the gooners lol.