Labor Day weekend is looking to be one of the busiest in Atlanta-area memory. If you can't book a hotel in Atlanta that weekend, here are most of the reasons why. Days are listed from Thurs, 9/3 to Mon, 9/7:
- Dragon*Con (Downtown, 45,000+, Thu-Mon) - This year's edition of the annual sci-fi/fantasy/whatever convention looks to be humongous this year, with an absurdly good guest list. I detect that Dragon*Con is moving toward being the small-screen counterpart to ComicCon's movie promotion role; so expect larger single-day and two-day crowds to jam Downtown.
- NCAA Football (Downtown and Georgia Dome, 50,000, Sat; 20,000 Fri-Sun) - Virginia Tech vs. Alabama kick off the season in an SEC-ACC matchup. From last year's experience, lots of fans take the opportunity to spend a weekend in Atlanta, book rooms in the Con hotels, and make for fun times.
- Falcons vs. Ravens (Downtown and Georgia Dome, 60,000+, Thu) - Atlanta's ascendant NFL franchise have a preseason game vs. Ravens night; after last year's playoff run, the place will be packed with hungry/rabid fans.
- NASCAR (Hampton Motor Speedway, 125,000+, Sat-Sun) - There will be racing under the lights in Hampton, so the biannual traffic jam south of town will commence.
- Braves vs. Reds (Turner Field, Fri, Sat, Sun, 120,000) - Two of the founding Major League Baseball franchises will play a series in Atlanta over the weekend. With half-price ticket specials taking hold, and the weekend crowd, this series will draw over 40k each game.
- The Atlanta Cup (Sat-Mon) - A multi-tiered soccer tournament will be held in the south suburbs over the weekend; state and national teams from youth league to college will be in competition.
- Britney Spears, Ciara(Phillips Arena, 20,000, Fri) - And then, there's a concert.
So, I estimate 420-450k tickets and memberships will be occupied in Atlanta over the weekend, on top of annual Labor Day Weekend travel. Packed in, indeed! |
