Long Beach Zombie Walk to include undead, art, music

Zombies are everywhere these days. They are in television shows, movies, video games and books. But on Oct. 29, they will no longer be just a work of fiction.

The fourth annual Zombie Walk will start at 2 p.m. this Saturday in Downtown Long Beach. Zombie enthusiasts of all ages can come and listen to bands, look at art and participate in this year's challenge of being world's largest zombie walk.

The dead will rise again in hopes of beating Seattle's record of 4,800 zombies. The event's host, Long Beach Cinematheque, expects about 10,000 to 15,000 undead to attend.

"The purpose of the Zombie Walk was initially to turn a zombie movie screening into a fun event in our community," said Giselle Crow, treasurer of Long Beach Cinematheque. "We wanted to and achieved some great promotion for the businesses of Fourth Street, and now we hope to continue to promote Long Beach though now in Downtown Long Beach."

People can come dressed as the terrifying undead before the walk, or they can get their makeup done professionally at the Makeup Village located in the Promenade Square.

Attendees can also enjoy the art walk and live music before the Zombie Walk at 8 p.m.

"This year is the first year that we've added music," Crow said.  "The community can enjoy various bands — playing throughout the day and into the night — free of charge. While the bands are playing at the Tinderbox Stage, there are also going to be live artists Jeremy West and David Manov painting murals and pieces."

A big name that people can look forward to is Oingo Boingo. Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, former drummer of the legendary band, has brought together a few other former members of the band to perform one of their famous Halloween tribute shows. The performance will take place at 9 p.m. at the Historic Press Telegram Building.

Dancers of all levels can also join in on the fun at 7 p.m. as they dance with Thrill the World Los Angeles. They will dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in hopes of breaking the world record of largest "Thriller" Mass Dance in the world.

The Zombie Walk is an all-ages event, so kids can come and join the festivities, too.

"In the last three Zombie Walks we had so many more children than we'd initially thought would participate," Crow said. "They were so excited to be in make-up and act scary like the grown-ups and walk down the street with everyone pretending to be zombies.  The ‘Thriller' dance will be particularly fun for kids to watch and dance along to."

The night before the Zombie Walk, Long Beach Cinematheque will host their annual movie screening of "Shaun of the Dead." However, this year it will take place at the Historic Press Telegram Building as part of their new series, Downtown Drive-In. Tickets are $10, and food from various food trucks can also be purchased.

Long Beach Cinematheque and its sister company, Mondo Celluloid, are non-profit organizations that hope to enrich the community by sharing movies to the people.

Crow said, "Both strive to enrich Long Beach's film community, with Long Beach Cinematheque focusing more on community collaboration and events, and Mondo Celluloid creating fun and clean midnight and genre film events for young people and film lovers of every age."

For more information about the Zombie Walk, visit zombiewalklb.com. If people want to volunteer for the event, email the volunteer coordinator at Volunteers@ZombieWalkLB.com. Admission to Zombie Walk is free.

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