Something for Everyone (Including Steampunk) at Dragon Con 2024

Once again, geeks of every stripe, including steampunk fans, will converge on Atlanta for Dragon Con, the huge multi-genre fan convention that takes place over Labor Day weekend.

The event features celebrities, authors, musical acts, costume contests, and the Dragon Con parade, along with programming tracks covering a multitude of fan interests. It’s set for Aug. 29-Sept. 2 at five downtown hotels plus AmericasMart, which hosts the vendor hall and artist alley.

Steampunk Programming

Most steampunk-related programming will be in the Alternate & Historical Fiction track, including teapot racing, tea dueling, and panels on Victorian fashion and spiritualism.

Other panels will cover historical romances, Weird West fiction, and the TV series Outlander, Bridgerton, The Gilded Age, Lawman: Bass Reeves, and Our Flag Means Death. These sessions will take place in the Courtland Grand Hotel.

Steampunk fans might also want to check out the “BritTrack,” which features panels on Doctor Who, Time Bandits, Sherlock Holmes, and other pop culture topics with U.K. connections.

One session, scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m., will offer an hour with Jodie Whittaker, the 13th Doctor. Catherine Tate, who portrayed Doctor Who companion Donna Noble, is scheduled for panels on each day of the convention.

Most of the BritTrack sessions will take place at the Hilton, but the celebrity panels will be at the Marriott.

Other fan tracks will cover anime/manga, costuming, diversity, fantasy, horror, robotics, Star Wars, Star Trek, video gaming, the paranormal, and more.

Though they aren’t part of the program, the steampunk cosplayers of Airship Ashanti will be at Dragon Con to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Airship mechanic Ofeibea Loveless (who also handles PR) told us they’ll be taking some of their favorite outfits from the vault to model at the convention. We spoke with her for an upcoming episode of our video series The World of Steampunk.

Musical Entertainment

Dragon Con also has a full lineup of musical acts, including Frenchy and the Punk, who will perform on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. in the Marriott Atrium Ballroom. Their set will overlap with Aurelio Voltaire, who takes the stage at 11 p.m. in the Hyatt Centennial ballroom.

Other scheduled performers include Cruxshadows, Wakefire, the Atlanta Swing Orchestra, Kraken’s Release, LandLoch’d, and The Gekkos (“the greatest goth nerd polka band on planet Earth”).

Celebrity Guests

As always, Dragon Con will host numerous stars from science fiction and fantasy franchises.

Star Trek will be well represented with appearances by Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, John de Lancie, Gates McFadden, Anson Mount, Walter Koenig, Michelle Hurd, Babs Olusanmokun, Ethan Peck, Todd Stashwick, Garrett Wang, Santiago Cabrera, Christina Chong, Bruce Horak, and Terry Matalas.

Fans of the space western series Firefly will want to see “Together Again,” a panel featuring stars Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. It’s set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Hyatt. Fillion will also be on hand Friday at 11:30 a.m. for a panel entitled “Browncoats Unite,” also at the Hyatt.

Other stars set to appear include John Cleese, Giancarlo Esposito, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elijah Wood, Eddie McClintock, Mike Colter, Ming-Na Wen, Danny Trejo, and Matt Yang King.

King, known for roles in Riverdale and Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, has also been active in steampunk. He created World of Steam, a steampunk web series, and starred in “Good Hunting,” a steampunk-themed episode of the Netflix animated series Love, Death & Robots. At Dragon Con, he will participate in three panels on Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Author guests at Dragon Con include Leanna Renee Hieber, Kevin J. Anderson, Jim Butcher, S.M. Stirling, Nancy Kress, Robert J. Sawyer, and John Scalzi.

Learn more on the website. Attendees (or the curious) can download the Dragon Con app, which includes the complete schedule plus maps, speaker bios, an exhibitors list, and more.