The first Monday in September was originally set aside as a day off for working stiffs. But that one day has long since morphed into the extravaganza we know and love as LABOR DAY WEEKEND. As befits its status as the undisputed big daddy of holiday weekends, the coming three-day (or more) blowout offers Atlantans a number of ways to commemorate the end of summer in style. Here are our favorites:
With two days of movies, killer tunes, a bitchin’ car show, overnight camping and the mother of all tailgate parties, DRIVE INVASION has staked an undisputable claim as the ATL’s premier hipster celebration. This year’s event includes comedy (“Blazing Saddles,” “Kentucky Fried Movie”) and sci-fi classics (“Barbarella,” “Forbidden Planet”), as well as Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash and Atlanta garage-rockers the Forty-Fives. Saturday and Sunday at the Starlight Six Drive-In. www.driveinvasion.com.
Now in its third year, the DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL has grown into a nationally recognized feather in the city’s cap (the fact that the fest’s daily-paper sponsor covers books now mostly as an afterthought is just a delightfully ironic bonus). This year’s impressive roster of national and local names includes Billy Collins (Friday’s keynote speaker), Pearl Cleage, Rick Bragg, Eric Jerome Dickey, Karin Slaughter, Elizabeth Dewberry and Roy Blount Jr., as well as a closing concert by Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers on Sunday. For complete schedules and other information: www.decaturbookfestival.com.
Last but not least, DRAGON*CON, Atlanta’s annual passport to other worlds, offers a stellar lineup (pun intended) of sci-fi, fantasy, comics and pop-cultural figures, from “Heroes” hottie Hayden Panettiere (pictured) to Kevin Sorbo, Edward James Olmos (“Battlestar Galactica”), Avery Brooks, Adam West and Beau Bridges. Oh, yeah—and hundreds of self-proclaimed geeks in elaborate costumes. Friday-Monday at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta Hilton and the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. www.dragoncon.org.
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images