A popular fan convention returns to Atlanta on Thursday for what organizers are advertising as their largest celebration yet.
MomoCon will be held through Sunday at the Georgia World Congress Center, the Omni Hotel and the Hilton Signia Downtown. It features events and exhibitions celebrating costuming, comics, gaming, music, visual arts and voice acting.
The event has been held every Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta since 2014.
What is MomoCon?
The multi-day gathering has grown to become the largest event in the southeastern U.S. for gaming, animation and comic fans, as well as cosplayers and LARPers.
“This year marks a major expansion for MomoCon as we’re now using more than one million square feet of the Georgia World Congress Center,” said MomoCon Co-Chairman Chris Stuckey.
“Our biggest news for this year is the addition of Wonder Festival, which began in Japan and highlights the artistry behind collectible design and production, celebrating professional studios and independent creators who bring characters, creatures, and worlds to life through craftsmanship,” Stuckey added.
Other notable exhibitions include a 24-hour open gaming hall, the second-largest of its kind in the country, spanning over 250,000 square feet of arcades, Esports stages, PC and LAN gaming, console tournaments, and free play and board and card gaming.
“Inside the event itself, we have a ton of people that are based in Atlanta or Fulton that are creators, whether they’re comic artists, whether they are independent vendors that have their own business that’s selling within the hall, or in many cases, they’re influencers that are coming through to the event through part of our content creator program,” Stuckey said.
Celebrity guests will also be part of the festivities, including the casts of the multimedia series “Critical Role” and the supernatural anime and manga “Dandadan,” Atlanta-based author and game designer Sarah Madsen and Atlanta-based graphic designer and game developer Brian Colin.
What business is MomoCon expected to bring to Atlanta?
This year’s convention is also expected to have a financial impact of more than $43 million on the city over Memorial Day weekend, according to the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. This includes spending at hotels, restaurants, venues and local businesses.
“We’ve reached out to a lot of local restaurants, local food places, coordinated with them, try to list them on our food maps, make sure that they’re highlighted, make sure the attendees know that these venues are open and exist,” Stuckey said.
Convention officials expect a record-breaking number of attendees this year, surpassing 2025’s roughly 59,000.
“2026 marks 21 years of MomoCon in Atlanta!” said MomoCon Founder and Co-Chair Jessica Merriman. “We’ve grown from a small event at Georgia Tech with 700 attendees to one of Atlanta’s biggest conventions with 65,000 visitors expected over Memorial Day weekend.”
Next year, Stuckey hopes more people come to MomoCon, which will lead to more economic activity in Atlanta.
“We’ll have even more people coming hopefully next year, so more hotel rooms. And that’s kind of what we’ve been seeing in the trend line is we continue to grow the event. More hotel rooms, more economic impact,” Stuckey said.
Convention officials note that passes are still available for the event, with festivities ending at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
