ATLANTA — Next weekend brings both Memorial Day events and an Atlanta annual convention, MomoCon, and this year’s gathering is expected to be big.
According to a release from event organizers, the annual tribute to everything anime, gaming, and nerddom is expected to bring in about $34.6 million over the weekend in the metro Atlanta area.
MomoCon officials said 50,000 people are expected to attend the yearly convention, held at the Georgia World Congress Center from May 24 to May 27.
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Quoting Tom Smith, an economist at Emory University, a spokesperson for MomoCon said the economic impact is as high as it is because of how many people come from outside of Georgia.
“MomoCon will draw attendees from around the world over Memorial Day Weekend 2024. Organizers report that guests are registered from all 50 U.S. states. Plus, guests will come from around the world including from: Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Vietnam, and the UK,” MomoCon officials said in a statement.
Originally a 700-person event on Georgia Tech’s campus, MomoCon has expanded significantly since moving locations. It’s now the largest gaming, animation, cosplay, comics and tabletop event in the Southeastern United States, according to convention officials.
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Along with a look at the potential economic impact of MomoCon, event officials provided a list of some of the big names coming to town. Featured guests include the following, according to MomoCon:
- Beau Billinslea - Voice Actor - Roles including “Cowboy Bebop”, “Naruto”, “Final Fantasy Advent Children”
- Irene Bedard - Actor, Voice Actor - Native American actor, director, producer, and advocate. Roles including “Pocohontas” (Disney), “Lakota Woman,” “Smoke Signals,” “Longmire,” “The Mist” (Stephen King), “Westworld” (HBO)
- Jodi Benson - Actor - Roles including Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”, “Wreck it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet”, “Toy Story 2″, “Toy Story 3″
- Steve Blum - Voice Actor - Roles including T.O.M. on “Toonami”, Spike from “Cowboy Bebop”, Zeb from “Star Wars Rebels”
- Sarah-Nicole Robles - Actor - Roles including appearances in “The Owl House”, “Encanto”, “The Boss Baby: back in Business,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “NCIS: Los Angeles”
- Greg Burnham (Norcross, GA) is a comic book writer who’s created indie comic hits Tuskegee Heirs, The Search For Sadiqah, Little Rock Files and The Story of Solace. His most recent is a children’s book, Swim, Kelly! Swim!
- Chrissy Powell (Atlanta) - Known as ChrissyPlaysDressup, she’s known for her range of cosplay, from anime to Disney characters.
- Adam Sanford (Dalton) is an illustrator and children’s book illustrator and author. He recently published Samuel Shootingstar, a space adventure story for children and working on a new comic called Luminaries, which he describes as a “Victorian X-Files.”
- Shadia Amin (Atlanta) - Born in Columbia and a graduate of SCAD, her work includes Shiny Misfits, Spider-Ham, Aggretsuko, & Olive & Popeye.
- Ben Heisler (Atlanta) - Associate Producer of Roleplaying Games at Renegade Game Studios, which includes Power Rangers, G.I. JOE, and Transformers, My Little Pony, and Welcome to Night Vale games
A full list of guests can be found online here.
It’s not too late to get passes to enter MomoCon. Tickets for the whole weekend, or different days individually, can be found here.
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