Niamey, Sep 4 (IANS): With characters extravagantly dressed as science-fiction, comic-book and videogame characters parading down Peachtree Street, the 30th annual Dragon Con Parade brought thousands of fans to Atlanta on Saturday for this spectacularly amusing event.

It all began in the year 2001 when Dragon Con, a largely geeky convention that combined attractions for fans of different genres -- sci-fi, comics and gaming -- decided to up its stability and increase the number of participants by adding the Marriott Marquis as the convention's second hotel along with the Hyatt, which had held the event in previous years, EFE news reported.

And to make the connection between one host hotel and the other, how about ... a parade between the two! So it wouldn't be just a geographical route from point A to point B, but also a thematic connection with a parade of the characters that were the core of the whole event.

Organisers say that around 75,000 people attend the Dragon Con Parade each year, making it Atlanta's largest.