Dragon Con 2023 Photos #5: Our Favorite Cosplay Parade Moments

cosplay: Bob and Louise Belcher parading. Bob wears a Cult of Marriott Carpet apron; June has matching pants. Bob wears a chalkboard around his neck reading, "Burger of the Day: What We Do with the Shallots Burger. Comes with blood!!" Behind them are three inflatable Cult of Marriott Carpet T-Rexes.

Bob and Louise Belcher from Bob’s Burgers, sporting the distinctive patterns of D*C’s own Cult of the Marriott Carpet.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America, Dragon Con had received rave reviews from our internet friends over the past two decades, some of whom recommended it to us more than once and, according to my notes, would never shut up about it. We had so much of a blast that we returned in 2021. Third time was the charm this Labor Day weekend as we repeated the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis to that amazing colossal southern spectacle…

Same as our visits in 2019 and in 2021, one of our favorite D*C features was the annual Saturday morning cosplay parade. Each year hundreds of cosplayers team up in appropriate factions or categories, then march around the streets of downtown Atlanta in their costumes, sometimes even driving the route in their geek vehicles. Usually the roadside crowd lineup around the parade route is the best free opportunity for the public-at-large to join the festivities and get a taste of con life.

Over the next several chapters we’ll be sharing batches of pics we took in between our moments of gawking and trying to remember some of the more obscure character names. If you recognize any characters we didn’t, by all means please let us know! We like learning about new universes, remedying our ignorance, correcting errors, and bridging the gaps in our aging memories where those character names used to be. Between us we took over 600 photos and couldn’t possibly have known everyone. Related note: if you or someone you know was in the parade and you’d love to see shots of them, pretty-please let us know! We’re taking requests! We’ll be happy to search our files and post ’em if we got ’em. You might come away disappointed, or you might not!

First in line: the 21 photos that stuck out most to me during the long-drawn-out sorting process. Some were fun action scenes; some were uniquely great costumes; some are just plain keen. We amateur cosplay fans did the best we could to honor the joy they all brought to Atlanta’s streets. Enjoy!

Robert Goulet cosplayer swings around with a martini. A woman in a bee costume looks away and marches onward.

A bee from Monks Meadery flees the party ambiance that follows Robert Goulet wherever he goes.

cosplay: adult Elliott on a bicycle with a blanketed E.T. puppet in the front basket

Elliott and E.T., still trying to achieve escape velocity after all these years.

cosplay: Herman Munster walks away while Al Lewis' Grandpa holds up his arms and looks upon the crowd for approval.

Herman Munster walks away as Grandpa swats at a stray bat who might just be a friend.

cosplay Sean Connery from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" walks and looks at the camera while holding his big open umbrella aloft.

We didn’t see a drop of rain all weekend, but Dr. Henry Jones was nevertheless prepared.

two cheerleaders in Marriott Carpet-patterned skirts and yellow tops. Their pom-poms are appropriately blue and gold.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Cult of the Marriott Carpet cheerleaders!

a lady dressed like the guys in Run-DMC with yellow Kangol hat, fake gold necklaces, and Cult of Marriott Carpet jacket and pants.

Also from the Carpet Cult: Run-D.M.C.!

lady in a demon costume with big red horns, red-and-black leaterhy wings, and red contact lenses.

Angry demon prepares to strike!

cosplay: imitation James Earl Jones in gold brown, totem necklaces, and fake leopard-skin sash. The king points diagonally to the sky.

King Jaffe Joffer from the Coming to America films. I was just watching the Oscar-nominated sequel the other day…

Kid wearing a Spider-Man mask and glove; red vest with thick, widely spaces crosshatch lines; and a Doctor Octopus puppet on his other hand.

Spider-Man variant with a classic Steve Ditko Peter Parker vest and wielding a Doctor Octopus hand-puppet, symbolic of how well Doc Ock has fared against Spidey in battle over the years.

Wilson Cruz sitting on the back of a moving convertible. He smiles, waves, and wears a blue, yellow, and green-striped top, and two bracelets on his waving arm.

Non-cosplay intermission! Among the famous names in the parade was Wilson Cruz, whom you might’ve seen in such TV shows as My So-Called Life and Star Trek: Discovery.