Labor Day Weekend is upon us with more than a dozen events happening in and around Intown, including Dragon Con and the Decatur Book Festival.
Decatur Book Festival
Thousands of authors and readers will flock to downtown Decatur over Labor Day weekend for book signings, poetry readings, workshops and more. Cassandra King Conroy, Rick Bragg, Melissa Conroy, Ron Rash and Bronwen Dickey will pay tribute to bestselling and beloved author Pat Conroy as the keynote event at the 2016 Decatur Book Festival on Sept. 2-4. Also at this year’s festival, award-winning author Alexander Chee will choose a track of readings and panels, while the featured “kid note author” will be Dav Pilkey, author of the “Captain Underpants” and “Dumb Bunnies” series. For more information, visit decaturbookfestival.com.
Dragon Con
Fans of sci-fi, fantasy and gaming will descend on Downtown Atlanta for the annual Labor Day weekend gathering Sept. 2-5, featuring the costume parade down Peachtree on Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. Some big stars will be at this year’s conference, including Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”), William Shatner (“Star Trek”), Alex Kingston (“Doctor Who”) and Eve Myles (“Torchwood”) among many others. There will also be panels, meet and greets and much more. Tickets and more information are at dragoncon.org.
More events coming up this weekend: The Black Gay Pride Festival kicks of tonight and continues through Monday; also tonight is AC/DC at Philips Arena and the Falcons vs. the Jaguars at the Georgia Dome.
On Friday, Georgia State University plays Ball State at the Georgia Dome at 7 p.m., while the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game featuring the Georgia Bulldogs and the North Carolina Tar Heels will have an afternoon of fan events at the Georgia World Congress Center before the kickoff at 5:30 p.m.
The Atlanta Police Department estimates that more than 500,000 people are projected to be in the city throughout the weekend. APD urges event-goers to plan ahead for any travel, and consider taking MARTA. Event-goers should be mindful of their surroundings and call 911 to report any suspicious activity.
Keep in mind the APD’s Clean Car Campaign by removing all valuables in plain sight from vehicles. Officers routinely respond to reports of laptops, GPS units, tablet computers, purses, firearms and other valuables stolen from unattended vehicles. Leave these items at home, or take them with you to avoid becoming a victim of this preventable crime.