Reanimating the 2012 Zombiewalk

Last Saturday the 27th of October 2012 I was able to attend the downtown Phoenix Zombiewalk. I have to say I enjoyed myself thoroughly and am impressed with the number of people in attendance for something related to horror films.

The event starts getting busy later in the afternoon and it's the perfect time of year to be outside in Phoenix. The event is held in the Heritage park area of downtown Phoenix which is a great setting for the type of event. There is some cool architecture in the area and a certain rustic look to other portions of the park. There is a strip of vendors carved out of one area and at the end of the strip is the stage for live performances and the costume contest. The walk itself left the park and traveled through the streets of downtown Phoenix.

The majority of the Zombiewalk is spent perusing through the vendors that line the main corridor of Heritage square. There were quite a few vendors out and many of them were zombie themed and did a great job of getting into the spirit of things. There were multiple booths that would do Zombie make up for only $5.00. One of them was run by the Ghostbusters! I think this was a fair price for the amount of work that went into a lot of the pieces.  There were a few food vendors as well as vendors serving alcohol. Four Peaks was at the event as well as Rose & Crown. One of the more notable booths was Deadly Delia’s Dozen. They had a host of friendly, scantily clad, girls available for photos. Other activities included getting your fortune told, paintballing, touring the Rosson House Museum, shooting baskets with the Phoenix Suns crew and hanging out with the Department of Zombie Defense.  Or you could even just hang out and enjoy the live music.

The Deadly Dalias had to take out a rogue zombie

Here was one of the City of Phoenix Ambassadors

Another thing that was great about the Zombiewalk was the patrons. A lot of times in a public setting people do everything they can to avoid one another. Here people were going out of their way to try to make the event more enjoyable. The folks who dressed up were great about posing for photos and staying in characters. There were some zombies who never once got out of character! Even the downtown Phoenix ambassadors got in on the fun. They were there to help run the event, but did a great job of getting into costume and bring the event (back) to life!



Ghostbusters also aren't afraid of no zombie





Rose & Crown was available to keep the more mature audience quenced



Dr. Diabolic was on hand to lead the walkers



The Downtown Phoenix Partnership did a great job of planning the walk. Right at dusk the zombies lined up with the Deadly Delia’s the Department of Zombie Defense and Dr. Diabolic leading the way. From there the walk ran through the streets of downtown Phoenix. The path was cleared by police officers who spearheaded the walk to keep “walkers” safe and to make sure no oncoming traffic got in the way of things. Spectators in the area who had no idea what was going on had mixed reactions. I overheard one women complaining about the insanity, but another I had the opportunity to talk to enjoyed the spectacle.



Overall I think the event was a success. The patrons all seemed to enjoy this event and it was executed very well. The music was fun and the costumes were great. Kudos to the Downtown Phoenix Partnership for putting this event on and I hope it continues to grow over the next few years. Although they may have to move the event as Heritage park couldn’t handle an outbreak any larger than what was in attendance.

I’ve included some photos here, but took quite a few more. I plan on posting the others on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/darkofthematineepodcast