Special Events
Once again, we have combined education and engagement with entertainment and fun. Join us during these Special Activities to connect, create, and for a chance to win amazing prizes.
Opening Reception
July 22, 2026
Join us for the Official Opening Welcome Reception, a night of networking, celebration, music, dancing, games, photos, food, and community fellowship.
This year’s reception brings a Comic-Con inspired twist with the theme *Legacy in Action: Warriors Assemble*. Attendees are invited to dress as their favorite superhero, anime character, comic book icon, or original warrior-inspired creation.
Enjoy cosplay, a costume contest, photo experiences, anime and comic-inspired entertainment, character showcases, music, dancing, and meaningful connection with warriors, caregivers, advocates, families, partners, and supporters from across the sickle cell community.
Come ready to have fun, meet new people, reconnect with your community, and officially kick off Warrior Con 2026 in true warrior style.
HBCU-Styled Warrior University Homecoming
July 23, 2026
Get ready to bring the energy, the culture, and the pride as we celebrate sickle cell warrior excellence in true HBCU fashion!
On Thursday, July 23rd, the 13th Annual Sickle Cell Warriors Convention transforms into a vibrant HBCU-Styled Homecoming a celebration of heritage, identity, and unity within the sickle cell community. Inspired by the powerful traditions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, this event is where culture meets community, and where warriors, caregivers, and advocates gather to uplift one another in style.
What to Expect
🎺 Marching Band-Inspired Kickoff & Drumline Beats
🏆 “Rep Your School” and “Rep Your City” Spirit Competitions
💃🏾 Stroll-Off & Step Show featuring warrior-led teams and HBCU alumni
🎨 Children's Fashion Show (feat. Warrior University merchandise)
🎭 Greek Life Appreciation & Black Excellence Showcase
🍽️ Tailgate-Inspired Food & Fellowship
🎶 Live DJ and Homecoming Dance Party to close out the night
Attendees are encouraged to rep their alma maters, sororities and fraternities, hometowns, or warrior pride with HBCU-style Warrior University paraphernalia, t-shirts, and colors. This night is about joy, pride, and celebrating the strength, legacy, and future of the sickle cell community in a way that’s bold, beautiful, and unapologetically Black.
Why It Matters
The HBCU-Styled Homecoming isn’t just about fun, it's about recognizing and reclaiming joy in the face of chronic illness. It’s a chance for warriors and caregivers to:
- Be celebrated for their resilience and brilliance
- Reconnect with culture and community
- Experience the uplifting power of music, movement, and legacy
This signature event captures the heart of the convention’s 2026 theme: “Legacy in Action, The Next Move.” What better way to celebrate family than with the pride and unity of a Homecoming night to remember?
Come Dressed to Represent! Come Ready to Dance! Come Home to the Family!
Let the drums roll, the flags fly, and the pride shine.
We’ll see you on the yard.
Women After Dark Pajama Jam
Women After Dark is an intentional space created for women to gather, exhale, connect, and be seen.
This year’s session will have a Pajama Jam feel, so attendees are invited to come dressed in comfortable, conference-friendly pajamas or loungewear. Please choose something cozy, modest, and suitable for a shared conference setting.
This session gives women a chance to step away from the noise, sit in community, and have the kind of open conversations that do not always happen in public spaces. It is a place for sisterhood, honesty, laughter, support, and meaningful connection.
Whether you are a warrior, caregiver, advocate, mother, daughter, partner, professional, or community leader, this session is designed to help women find their people. Sometimes you need a room where you do not have to overexplain your journey. Sometimes you just need to be around women who understand, women who listen, and women who remind you that you are not carrying it all by yourself.
Women After Dark is about connection, mental wellness, community care, and creating space for the conversations women often hold in, push through, or carry silently. Come ready to talk, listen, laugh, breathe, and build relationships with women who get it.
This is not a formal presentation. It is a space to rest your spirit, speak freely, and leave knowing you have somebody in your corner.
MEN AFTER DARK
Men After Dark is an intentional space created for men to connect, decompress, and have honest conversations in a setting built on respect, brotherhood, and understanding.
This session gives men a chance to come together without pressure, performance, or judgment. It is a space for warriors, caregivers, fathers, sons, brothers, partners, advocates, and community leaders to talk about life, health, family, relationships, stress, strength, mental wellness, and the things men do not always get the space to say out loud.
Men After Dark is about building brotherhood and creating room for real support. Sometimes men need a space where they can be heard without being fixed, understood without being judged, and supported without having to carry the weight alone.
This session offers an opportunity to network, connect, find common ground, and build relationships with other men who understand the journey in their own way. It is a space to talk, listen, reflect, laugh, and leave encouraged.
This conversation is a reminder that strength also looks like honesty, community, and having people around you who truly understand.
ARTIST ROW
The Sickle Cell Consortium is proud to introduce Artist Row, a new signature experience at the 13th Annual Sickle Cell Warriors Convention.
Artist Row is a vibrant showcase featuring talented warriors, caregivers, family members, and community creatives who use art, literature, storytelling, and creative expression to educate, inspire, heal, and empower others. This unique marketplace and meet-and-greet experience provides attendees with the opportunity to connect directly with authors, poets, illustrators, visual artists, photographers, comic creators, and other creatives from across the sickle cell community.
Throughout the event, participants will host book signings, art signings, live demonstrations, and interactive conversations while showcasing and selling their books, artwork, merchandise, and creative works.
Aligned with this year's convention theme, "Legacy in Action: The Next Move," Artist Row celebrates the creators whose stories, perspectives, and talents help shape the future of the sickle cell community. Like every piece on the board contributes to the outcome of the game, every story shared, every book written, and every work of art created has the power to inspire action, spark conversation, and move the mission forward.
Artist Row celebrates the belief that creativity is a powerful form of advocacy, healing, and leadership. Whether sharing a personal journey, educating others through art, or inspiring future generations through storytelling, these creators are helping build a legacy that will be passed from one generation to the next.
Attendees are encouraged to explore, connect, shop, and support the incredible talent that exists within our community.
Discover. Connect. Celebrate. Support.
Every Story Matters. Every Creator Matters. Every Move Matters.
GRADUATION CEREMONY
Join us in honoring the remarkable achievements of our Sickle Cell Warrior and Caregiver graduates during this year’s uplifting graduation celebration! Whether graduating from high school, college, a vocational program, or a certification course—this moment recognizes the perseverance, resilience, and brilliance of those living with or caring for someone with sickle cell disease.
Despite medical obstacles, pain crises, hospital stays, and the heavy demands of caregiving, these graduates have pressed forward to pursue their dreams—and now, we celebrate them in front of their warrior family.
This inspiring ceremony highlights the victories of both Warrior Graduates and Caregiver Graduates from the 2024 and 2025 academic years. With cap and gown presentations, music, words of encouragement, and a few joyful surprises, this special event is one of the most powerful and emotional moments of the convention.
OTHER EVENTS HAPPENING
