Thousands of Lego enthusiasts are expected to pack the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth this weekend as the Brick Fan Event rolls into town, bringing a two-day lineup of massive brick displays, hands-on building zones, and a pair of reality TV champions to metro Atlanta. The expo runs Saturday and Sunday, drawing families, hobbyists, and serious builders from across the region for a celebration of all things Lego.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta, the Brick Fan Event is billed as a Lego fan expo that will attract thousands of enthusiasts to Duluth this weekend. The convention runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Gas South Convention Center, according to Ready Set Gwinnett, which describes the two-day gathering as a regional draw for builders and families across metro Atlanta.
Interactive Zones Built for Kids and Serious AFOLs Alike
The event's hands-on features go well beyond glass display cases. Ready Set Gwinnett reports the expo will include a 125-foot remote-control Lego off-road course, a collaborative build zone where attendees help assemble a 5-foot-tall minifigure, a strongest-bridge engineering competition, and a brick-themed magic show. The mix of STEM-oriented challenges and family-friendly activities is designed to keep both younger children and advanced adult builders engaged throughout the weekend, per the same report.
Some of the convention's biggest draws are the custom displays built by regional fan groups. The South Carolina Bricks LEGO User Group, known as SC Bricks LUG, is bringing collaborative, custom-designed exhibits that take months to put together, according to a Brick Fan Event Facebook post. Adult fan groups across the Southeast routinely collaborate on interconnected cityscapes, train networks, and fantasy-themed layouts for shows like this one.
LEGO Masters Champions Bring Local Star Power
Atlanta brothers Mark and Steven Erickson are set to appear as featured guest builders, adding a hometown celebrity draw to the lineup. The duo won Season 2 of Fox's television competition series LEGO Masters in 2021, taking home a $100,000 cash prize for their 24-hour finale build titled Warden of the Woods, as reported by Attractions Magazine.
Their appearance underscores just how deep Lego fandom runs in metro Atlanta, a region that has quietly become something of a regional hub for the hobby. Duluth's Gas South Convention Center also hosts Atlanta Brick Con every February, another major annual Lego convention that spans 70,000 square feet of exhibit space, as noted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Brick Fan Event itself is part of a larger touring circuit, with stops planned in Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, Nashville, and Greenville, according to ToyCons.com.
A Convention Hub With Real Economic Muscle
The Gas South Convention Center is built to handle crowds of this size. The venue offers a 90,000-square-foot exhibit hall with 28-foot ceiling clearance and drive-in loading access, sitting on a 118-acre multipurpose campus that finished a major expansion in late 2022, per Gas South District. That capacity matters for Gwinnett County's bottom line: the convention center hosts more than 150 conventions and expos annually, pulling in over 200,000 visitors and generating more than $25 million in direct economic impact each year, according to the Sugarloaf Community Improvement District.
Local institutions have taken notice of the community's appetite for brick building well beyond the convention circuit. Zoo Atlanta ran a Build Your Best Challenge in July 2022 judged by local LEGO Masters champions, drawing nearly 90 contest entries across age divisions, per Zoo Atlanta. Metro Atlanta also has year-round infrastructure for fans, including the LEGO Discovery Center Atlanta at Phipps Plaza, which Hoodline previously reported features Atlanta landmark replicas built from more than 1.5 million bricks alongside community accessibility programming.
