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This year, New Jersey Zombie Walk participants will be seeing red — fireworks, that is.

The Asbury Park City Council Wednesday approved an all-red fireworks display to take place Saturday night, October 4, after the 2014 walk.

The “blood red” fireworks show will set off after sunset on the oceanfront near the Third and Fifth avenue beaches, according to Jackie Pappas, executive director of the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce, one of the event sponsors.

In addition to the fireworks display, local band So Watt will perform in Press Plaza during the walk, she said.

Festivities for the Zombie weekend kickoff on Friday with a bonfire and ghost story reading at the Anchor’s Bend Bar, located on the north side of Convention Hall. Saturday’s walk falls on First Saturday, which means area shops and art galleries will be open a little later. On Sunday, a citywide sidewalk sale is scheduled and The Wonderbar will host a Zombie Yappy Hour, Pappas said.

Every year, a multitude of dog owners show up to the walk with their dogs dressed like zombies, she said, so this year, dog owners are invited to bring their furry friends back on Sunday for their chance to win a zombie-dog costume contest.

“It’s really going to be a fun weekend,” Pappas said.

The theme of this year’s walk is “Grey Matters,” chosen to help spread awareness about brain cancer, according to Zombie Walk founder and director Jason Meehan.

Last year’s walk put Asbury Park zombies at the top of the Guinness World Record list for “Largest Gathering of Zombies.” The record remains uncontested at 9,592 zombies.

Originally held as the Asbury Park Zombie Walk in 2008, the event was renamed The New Jersey Zombie Walk in 2009 to draw in a larger audience from all over the state and beyond, Meehan said.

For more information, visit the New Jersey Zombie Walk website.

[Photo at top provided by Jason Meehan.]

[CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated the Asbury Park Zombie Walk was renamed The New Jersey Zombie Walk in 2008. The correct year event organizers changed the name is 2009. This article has been updated to reflect that change.]

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