It's that time of year again! Yes, it's the beginning of fall, which means that Labor Day weekend again kicks off here in my hometown of Atlanta, GA with the annual Dragon*Con Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival.

For the last couple of years, I have documented some of the highlights of the event, and this year will be no different. This year, I'm going to do things a little differently, broken down into the three major components of my experience there. Of course, there is the actual festival itself, where I perused rows and rows of dealer tables and rubbed shoulders with celebs from the genre. And of course, there was the parties after dark in the hotel lobby and countless rooms in the place. But this time around, I actually arrived at the festival around 8:30 in the morning on Saturday to witness the fabled Dragon*Con parade.

I've decided to split my review into three components for this reason, so dig in and prepare for some great adventures in nerdhood. Be sure to click the images to take you to the full-sized pics, and the entire gallery will be available for your amusement at the end of our tour.

The Dragon*Con parade is an opportunity for those who took the time to dress up for the occasion to strut their stuff in front of thousands. For a brief period in the morning, Atlanta's world-famous Peachtree Street is shut down while conventiongoers and celebrities stroll down the highway to cheers of approval. This is the day that nerds wait their whole lives for. This is nerd Valhalla.

Bear in mind that my liberal usage of the word "nerd" is merely used as a term of affection. I've come to the conclusion that I am indeed a nerd as well, and that it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, I don't dress up in elaborate and garish costumes from stories I should have forgotten about when I hit puberty, but I'm still on a certain level of nerddom. But every nerd has his day, and that day starts with a parade.

After everyone assembles and gets organized, the parade starts off with members of Cobra, archrivals to G.I.Joe, marching in formation. It begins with Cobra Officers leading Cobra Soldiers with an occasional Viper thrown in, but they are soon followed by ranking officers such as Destro and The Baroness.

Next up is Dr. Demento, legendary radio host, scooting along in a VW Thing. He is followed by a bevy of Star Trek characters. First come the graduates of the Starfleet Academy, and then the massive Klingon Empire, complete with their road-ready Klingon attack ship. A Klingon biker gang soon follows suit, followed by countless Klingon Soldiers on foot.

The fine folks from Netherworld, who put on one of the city's most popular haunted houses each Halloween, are next in line. Gigantic, frightening, monstrous costumes are worn by people trodding down Peachtree, along with several very large props. After they pass, some themed businesses get their shot for some advertising, including Gainesville, GA's Coffee Shop of Horrors.

But don't fear the parade of Poltergeists that have just passed, because The Ghostbusters have arrived to save the day. Following them are the Tolkienites, an army of characters from The Lord of the Rings. Elves, wizards, hobbits, dwarves, orcs, and every other division you can think of are out in full force.

They'll soon make room for the comic book superheroes, though. First, it's the Marvel contingent, featuring the likes of Thor, Iron Man, Thing, Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Man. Next up, we have the DC crowd, providing such classic characters as Batman, Two-Face, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, and Superman. Many lesser-known comic characters also made their presence known this year in the parade as well.

From there, it's time to look at some other costumes. Adventure heroes like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft are spotted strolling down the avenue, and are soon followed by characters from Wing Commander and a whole shitload of pirates, flanked by the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow. A bevy of Disney characters follow suit, as well as the one and only Predator.

A few other celebrity guests roll by, including Renegade star Lorenzo Lamas and Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson. The anime crowd makes their way through the line, followed by characters as diverse as Mario and Luigi from Super Mario Brothers, Gogo from Kill Bill, and even characters from the popular website Homestar Runner.

The Farscape fans make their way through the parade route, very few in costumes, but mostly just with little "Farscape Fan" signs. A whole bevy of Starship Troopers is up next, followed by some space marines from Aliens. Some guy dressed like Speed Racer zips along in a white Mustang. A few other assorted characters and celebrity heroes make their way through the line, until we're led up to the grand finale of nerddom: Star Wars.

The 'Wars contingent is led this year by a few random characters from the trilogy, but are legitimized by the appearance of Jeremy Bulloch and Daniel Logan, the two actors to portray Boba Fett. A horde of Fetts follow suit, as we lead in to the Rebel Alliance and Jedi Council. As the good guys march through in their X-Wing flight suits and wielding lightsabers, Chewbacca, Han Solo, and Princess Leia cheer them on. There's even an appearance by the man himself, Mr. George Lucas!

But finally, we come to the Dark Side, where Imperial soldiers lead such evil names as Darth Maul, Prince Xizor, and Count Dooku down the road. But the best is yet to come, as looming over the horizon are the main event: The Stormtroopers. All of the various designations are represented; from the Biker Scout, to the Sandtrooper, to the Snowtrooper, to plain ol' regular white troopers. They are followed by At-At drivers and Death Star troopers and TIE fighter pilots, and are even joined by lady Stormtroopers and other variations on the theme. Finally, members of the Republic Clone Army are assembled for the final march through the street.

Yes, it's a veritable cornucopia of nerds, assembled and showcased for all of Atlanta (including some very confused homeless people, I'd wager) to bear witness to. But fear not, fellow dorks, because the day is far from over.

Dragon*Con has a lot of perks, and to many that perk is the idea of rubbing shoulders with some of the people that made the stories they love possible. Each year, Dragon*Con assembles celebrities from all sides of the Science Fiction and Fantasy realms, everyone from actors and actresses to authors and artists to directors and producers to pro wrestlers and musicians.

I'll admit that this isn't one of the things I generally look forward to the most. Fact is, I'm what you might call a lesser nerd. I don't say that to try and seperate myself from the dork masses, I really mean it. Sure, I like stuff like Star Wars and The Transformers and G.I.Joe and have a passing interest in comic books, but that's about the extent of it. I don't play role-playing games. I don't follow Star Trek or read H.P. Lovecraft novels. I certainly don't dress up for conventions. But mostly, I just don't follow a lot of the properties that these celebs are known for appearing in.

But even so, there are always a few celebrities that pique my interest each year. And I always find myself checking out the autograph tables upon each visit to sneak a gander at someone who might have been in a movie I liked a lot when I was thirteen years old.

I did have the pleasure of bumping in to a few very cool folks at the Troma booth this year. For the uninitiated, Troma is a film studio that specializes in the true independent spirit. Films that the major studios wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole are Troma's bread and butter. Independent comedies and horror flicks that are probably best-described as "B-movies" are their claim to fame. A couple of Troma's most loyal stalwarts were attending their booth this year, and I was honored to meet them.

The first was the lovely and talented Scream Queen Debbie Rochon, star of Troma staples such as TROMEO AND JULIET, TERROR FIRMER, and TALES FROM THE CRAPPER, as well as other independent horror films including AMERICAN NIGHTMARE. Ms. Rochon is as friendly as they come, and got a kick out of my promotion of this very website.

Also on board was a man that is worshipped by people the world over: the one and only Lloyd Kaufman. Lloyd is the brains behind dozens of Troma's finest films, including cult favorites SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD, CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH, and THE TOXIC AVENGER. He's also appeared in countless films, including quite a few with Debbie Rochon. Meeting Lloyd was a true pleasure, and more than made the day worthwhile.

As I made my way down to the dealer rooms, there were a slew of big names on board. KILL BILL star David Carradine was there, as was GHOSTBUSTERS' Ernie Hudson. Actors from Farscape, Babylon 5, Buck Rogers, and Lost in Space were all in attendance as well. Perhaps the most friendly attendee was the man best known for THE BEASTMASTER, Marc Singer.

Some of the other celebrities on board for the festival included jazz musician Chick Corea, pro wrestler Mike "Virgil" Jones, goth band The Crüxshadows, Buffy star Julie Benz, comic book writer Warren Ellis, Splatterhouse hero Sid Haig, BattleStar Galactica's Richard Hatch, Lois Lane portrayer Margot Kidder, Chewbacca's alter ego Peter Mayhew, legendary comic Soupy Sales, FX pioneer Tom Savini, and voice actor Billy West, just to name a few.

But as much as I can generally keep my cool around such big names from the celeb world, one person got me choked up this year: Space Ghost voiceman George Lowe. I was completely tongue-tied when I was unwittingly roped into a conversation with him, and probably made myself look like a retard in the process. Amazing, since many of these people come from thousands of miles away to appear, that the one guy I lose my cool around is a guy that often works a couple of blocks away from where my last apartment was.

But as cool as some of them were, the celebs weren't even the apex of the day. The best is yet to come.

The one factor most people outside of the nerd realm tend to forget about Dragon*Con is that it produces some of the best parties this side of Sin City. For once in a long while, nerds are able to cavort with hundreds, nay, thousands of their own kind. They rent out rooms at the Hyatt Regency downtown, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a quiet hotel suite at any hour on Saturday night. But more amazingly is the way the party spills out into the grand lobby of the hotel each year.

This, folks, is the real reason to attend the 'Con.

I'm not even going to bother with a whole lot of descriptions here. I'm going to leave this section of this year's coverage to the photographs I took. I could run my mouth for a while, but you don't need to hear me telling stories of my drunken adventures to get the gist of it. Just enjoy the images, and be sure to access the full gallery at the end of the article.

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