Dragon Con Parade Canceled Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

Dragon Con will not hold its annual parade in Atlanta this year. On Monday, Atlanta’s City Council opted not to issue permits for the Dragon Con parade or the Atlanta Pride parade, according to WSB-TV. It is part of an overall ban on permits for parades and festivals. The ban is the result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “We’re not going to add events or do anything that is going to bring people together,” said City Council president Felecia Moore. “That just doesn’t make sense.” The permit ban does not apply to conventions. That means Dragon Con may still take place this year without its usual parade through the city.

Dragon Con occurs each year in Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend. The convention’s website describes the event as “the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe. Call us a phenomenon, call us one of the most well attended pop-culture conventions in the country, call us the most fan fun you can have in five days: Dragon Con is where you want to be on Labor Day Weekend.”

Other conventions, including San Diego Comic-Con, have canceled their 2020 events due to the pandemic. Dragon Con has not made an official decision as of yet, but a message on their website indicates they plan to proceed with this year’s convention: “From the Dragon Con family to yours, please stay healthy, stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you in September.” Tickets for the event are still on sale.

San Diego Comic-Con released a statement in April confirming that the annual event would skip 2020. “For the first time in its 50-year history San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), the organizers behind the annual pop culture celebration, announced today with deep regret, that there will be no Comic-Con in 2020,” the statement reads. “The event will instead return to the San Diego Convention Center from July 22-25, 2021. Recognizing that countless attendees save and plan for its conventions each year, and how many exhibitors and stakeholders rely upon its events for a major portion of their livelihood, they had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer. Continuous monitoring of health advisories and recent statements by the Governor of California have made it clear that it would not be safe to move forward with plans for this year.”

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