ATLANTA (AP) - The Atlanta Police Department says the city is preparing for big crowds on the Labor Day weekend, with several major events scheduled.

Police say hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected in the downtown and midtown areas.

Georgia Tech and Georgia State play home football games, and the Atlanta Braves have home games Thursday through Sunday. The Atlanta Falcons play a preseason game Thursday night.

In addition to sports, the city will host the annual DragonCon convention and the Black Gay Pride weekend.

Just east of Atlanta, the city of Decatur will host the AJC Book Festival, Friday to Sunday.

The police department says it will have plenty of personnel on hand to deal with traffic and security issues.