Labor Day is now officially one of my favorite holidays, because Labor Day means Dragon Con! Held in Atlanta, Georgia, Dragon Con brings you together with about 65,000 of your closest fandom friends for great panels, events, entertainment, and celebrity guests.
Dragon Con is organized into tracks, centered on various fandoms or themes. The Tolkien Track at Dragon Con is second to none, and features celebrity panels, panels given by Tolkien experts, and fan-led panels.
Dragon Con 2015 is now concluded. I was here throughout the whole con, covering all sorts of fantastic Middle-earth content for our readers. It was so busy that I could barely get anything out on social media (even when I had signal, which was almost never), but I wanted to give you a quick preview of some of the Dragon Con reports that you will see over the next several weeks.
Actor John Noble (Denethor) was among the celebrity guests for the Tolkien’s Middle-earth track at Dragon Con 2015. Photo credit: New Line Cinema.
- Middle-earth Celebrity Guest Panels. There were four panels featuring actors from Peter Jackson’s films: Peter Hambleton (Gloin, The Hobbit film trilogy), Stephen Hunter (Bombur, The Hobbit film trilogy), John Noble (Denethor, The Lord of the Rings film Trilogy), and Dean O’Gorman (Fili, The Hobbit film trilogy). I attended three of the four panels, and will report some highlights of each.
- Crossover Panels. The Tolkien Track organized some crossover panels with other programming tracks, “Westeros Middle-earth” and “Star Wars vs. Middle-earth.” I was lucky enough to be invited to participate as a panelist in both of these fun and informative discussions, and will share a little bit of what we talked about.
- Press conference with John Noble. I represented Middle-earth News at an invitation-only press conference with the legendary John Noble, known to Lord of the Rings fans as Denethor, Steward of Gondor. Mr. Noble is also popular for his work in series such as Fringe and Sleepy Hollow.
- Interview with Dean O’Gorman. The actor who brought us Fili, Heir to the throne of Erebor, was gracious enough to sit down with me for a one-on-one interview. Want to know what sort of king Fili would have been? The answer is in the interview!
- Chat with Peter Hambleton. Our very own Gloin, Gimli’s dad, generously took a few minutes out of his last day at the con for an informal chat with me about The Hobbit, Gloin, theatre, and advice for New Zealand tourists.
- Expert panels. Want some tips on “How to Fight Like a Dwarf” from martial artist and fight choreographer Michael Cook, or some ideas for design and construction techniques for advanced Middle-earth cosplay? I’ll tell you about some of the great information from these terrific panels given by experts.
- An Evening at Bree. A favorite party event each year at Dragon Con, “An Evening at Bree” features great music by Emerald Rose plus a Middle-earth Costume contest. This event never disappoints! I even managed to work up the courage to attend in costume this year!
Dean O’Gorman and Stephen Hunter joined in the fun at Dragon Con 2015. Photo credit: Dean O’Gorman, 2014.
As you can see, I did my best to cover some of the coolest Tolkien content at Dragon Con. The Tolkien Track is so full of great panels and activities that one reporter can’t possibly do it all, but I look forward to sharing my fantastic Dragon Con 2015 experience with you! Maybe I’ll convince you that you need to join us for Dragon Con 2016!
