DRAGON CON WILL REQUIRE ATTENDEES TO SHOW PROOF OF VACCINATION OR NEGATIVE COVID TEST BEFORE JOINING THE CONVENTION
ATLANTA – Aug. 17, 2021 – Dragon Con, the internationally known science fiction, fantasy, and gaming convention, will require that everyone who attends the live convention show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test before entering the convention.
In order to pick up their badges, all attendees will need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of arriving at the convention. The new guidelines arrive as the Delta variant is causing more COVID-19 cases worldwide, including “breakthrough” infections of vaccinated individuals.
For fans who are not comfortable attending a live convention, we created Dragon Con Goes Virtual, a live-streamed version of the convention with live convention coverage as well as exclusive pre-recorded content and highlights from past conventions that fans can enjoy from the comfort of their own home in the company of close friends and family. A Dragon Con Goes Virtual subscription is $10.
“From the start, we have committed to hosting a convention that would help protect our fans from the spread of COVID while staying true to the traditions that make Dragon Con fun and memorable,” said convention co-chair Rachel Reeves. “As the number of COVID-related cases continues to climb, it becomes clear that we need to update our health and safety protocols in order to keep that commitment.”
Now in its 35th year, Dragon Con runs from Thursday, Sept. 2 to Monday, Sept. 6 with events and activities across five host hotels – Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Westin Peachtree, and Sheraton Atlanta – and AmericasMart Buildings One and Two.
Today’s announcement is in addition to a series of health & safety protocols announced on August 1, including a requirement that all attendees wear a mask while indoors in a convention venue and a 50 percent reduction in the number of memberships that will be sold for this year’s convention. We anticipate attendance at this year’s convention will be around 40,000 people, compared to 85,000 in 2019.
In addition, only badge-holding Dragon Con members will be allowed to watch this year’s Dragon Con Parade from the parade route. Instead, we encourage people to stay home and watch the parade on CW69 or YouTube.
Dragon Con encourages all fans – whether they come to the convention or stay home – to get a vaccination as it has been shown to offer the most personal protection from illness related to this pandemic.
About Dragon Con
Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 2 -Sept. 6, 2021) in Atlanta. Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than 3,500 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over four days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
