With Dragon Con less than a week away, there are a few updates to cover.

First, the Dragon Con Parade has a new route. In years past, it has been difficult to secure a viewing location. As a result, a new route has been created that is longer, and thus provides more space to accommodate the thousands of viewers that will be in attendance.

This year, the parade will begin at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Linden Avenue at 10:00 a.m. Participants will then travel south along Peachtree Street, turn east on Andrew Young International Boulevard, and finally, turn north on Peachtree Center Avenue. The parade will end at the Marriott Marquis.

Even though the route is longer, it’s only longer by one tenth of a mile, so if you plan to attend, you should still get there early.

Second, Dragon Con’s 2015 official charity has been announced. This year Dragon Con will match dollar for dollar up to $50,000 any donations given to the Lymphoma Research Foundation during the convention.

“Selecting the Lymphoma Research Foundation as our official charity this year was a very personal choice,” shared Rachel Reeves, convention co-chair. She is referring to the fact that the convention runners recently lost two members to lymphoma, and a third is currently fighting it. “We are grateful that organizations such as this are working hard to improve treatments and cures for this devastating disease,” Reeves added.

One way to donate is to purchase “challenge coins,” and attend the annual charity party. This year’s theme is the Monster Mash Up. Come as your favorite sci-fi, horror, or classic monster, or a combination.

Hurry Hurry Hurry! Click Right Up! Your #DragonCon2015 Challenge coins are NOW available for pre-order! Better act...

Posted by Dragon Con on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

There are other opportunities to contribute, though. For example, buy a few drinks while hanging out with “The Chief” from Battlestar Galactica, Aaron Douglas.

Come join the Dragon Con Social Media team as we get ready to kick off #DragonCon2015!Aaron Douglas will be with us...

Posted by Dragon Con on Sunday, August 30, 2015

Third, Dragon Con released an announcement regarding it’s gaming panels. “While the cosplay and our celebrity guests get a lot of attention, Dragon Con is actually one of the largest gaming conventions in the nation,” explained convention co-chair Dave Cody. “Our overall games programming features voice actors, game designers and other guests from the worlds of table top and video gaming, as well as the opportunity to play tabletop and LAN gaming in casual and tournament formats.”

Gaming guests this year include : Richard “Lord British” Garriott (creator of Ultima and Tabla Rasa games), who will discuss his latest project, Shroud of the Avatar; Mark Meer (the voice of Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect trilogy); Felicia Day (actress, gamer, and creator of The Guild), Jonathan LeCraft (World of Warcraft sr. designer); Ian Frazier (Mass Effect: Andromeda lead designer); Monte Cook, Rob Schwalb, and Erik Mona (Dungeons & Dragons); Jason Buhlman (Pathfinder); and Jay Little (X-Wing and RPG Edge of the Empire).

The 2015 Gaming Guide is out!!http://www.dragoncon.org/?q=node/629

Posted by Dragon Con LAN Gaming on Wednesday, August 26, 2015

All in all, this year promises to be a good one! Hope to see you there.

Top image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com