Undead will rise and walk, rain or shine
Blood red fireworks display, bonfire still weather permitting
UPDATE: The start of the NJ Zombie Walk has been changed to 5 p.m., due to rain Saturday morning. This article has been updated to reflect the new start time.
The 2014 New Jersey Zombie is scheduled to take place in Asbury Park Saturday at 5 p.m. and thousands of zombies are expected to crawl the streets despite the threat of rain.
“I think we’re going to have some soggy zombies, but it’s rained before on the day of the walk and it’s still a great time — nothing stops the undead,” said Jackie Pappas, executive director of the city’s chamber of commerce.
Along with the walk, which drew more than 20,000 people to the city and set a new Guinness World Record for largest gathering of zombies at 9,592 last year [shown above], several other events are planned throughout the weekend to coincide with the event.
Festivities kickoff tonight with a bonfire and ghost story reading at The Anchor’s Bend bar, weather permitting. The Anchor’s Bend is located on the north side of Convention Hall.
The Undead Festival, a bazaar of the bizarre, begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with zombie face painting in the carousel house at the southernmost end of the boardwalk. More than 50 vendors and artists dedicated to all things horror will be in Casino and some of the city’s restaurants and shops will be offering zombie-friendly menus, dinner specials, and discounts. The zombie blood drive will begin in the Bloodmobile just outside of the Carousel House.
Anyone dressed as a zombie will have a chance to sneak preview “Haunted Hall,” a haunted maze in Convention Hall, at half the price of admission from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The attraction will close for the walk and reopen from 5 to 10 p.m. Pricing is $8 for zombies and $15 for the living. The amusement opens for the season Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.
At both ends of the boardwalk on the southern side of Convention Hall, fans of The Walking Dead can pose and take photos alongside two tactical zombie survival vehicles [shown at left] provided by Circle Hyundai in Shrewsbury, one of the sponsors of this year’s walk.
Post-walk, live music by local band So Watt and zombie festivities continue downtown and at local businesses throughout Asbury Park from 6 to 8 p.m.
The ‘blood red’ fireworks show will set off after sunset on the oceanfront near the Third and Fifth avenue beaches.
Whether thefireworks display will take off at sunset depends more on wind conditions, and event organizers say they will make every effort to see they happen, Pappas said.
The falls on First Saturday, the chamber’s monthly downtown celebration of the first Saturday of the month, 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.
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.
Event proceeds will be donated to Camp Jinka, a free summer program for New Jersey children and teenagers whose lives have been impacted by brain cancer. The organization was selected in honor of Zombie Walk volunteer coordinator Mariel Alguacil, who lost her mother to the disease.
For a full list of the day’s events and more information about the walk, visit the New Jersey Zombie Walk website.
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