Friday morning the line formed outside the Esports Stadium in Arlington. Some of the masks were required for COVID-19 protocols -- other masks were optional.
"It doesn't matter if you're in a costume," Richard White said showing off his costume. "If you're a fan, you're a fan, you know? We're all here to enjoy ourselves."
Dream Con is a mash-up of cosplay, gaming and anime fans.
"Anime, video games, a lot of people don't like to say they like it so much because a lot of people make fun of people for liking those type of thing," Dream Con president and RDCWorld1 founder Mark Phillips said. "Here at Dream Con, you ain't gonna get made fun of. You're gonna be really accepted and you're gonna have a lot of fun."
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The soldout event had 3,000 fans at Esports Stadium. Others could take part online.
"I think the world needs something like this," Dream Con Event Director Jonathan Newton said. "Hopefully next year we'll be back to normal and we can just have it fully open, but even this small amount is bigger than we've ever had before. We never expected this."
Newton and Phillips have built an online following, so much so, the event that used to be held in Waco moved to the bigger venue in Arlington. The concept started with a dream when Phillips was a student at the University of North Texas.
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"There's a lot of different dreams out there. You can make it being a scientist. You can make it being the president," Phillips said. "We just want everyone to dream at Dream Con.
Dream Con runs through Saturday.
