Vancouver Zombie Walk 2008

Well another Zombie Walk has come and gone and regretfully I was unable to attend this year's walk. However I am grateful for the tons of pictures posted on the Vancouver Zombie Walk Facebook page! And I will try my best to attend next year's walk.

I would like to address one issue that came up: I received a complaint via my vancouverhalloween.com website regarding blood smearing on private property. I would just like to state here that if participants are going to leave behind bloody hand prints and other forms of blood smearing (and I don't see why they shouldn't), I think that the organizers of the walk should ensure that there is a "Clean up crew" following the parade route cleaning up Zombie Mess. This would make for great public relations and earn the respect from the community.

Now the Zombies who enjoy 'smearing' and you know who you are, should also be aware that red dye found in fake blood products can stain, especially on light colored painted surfaces and clothing. So when purchasing fake blood, look for a non-staining product and avoid smearing on light colored surfaces and fabric. Better still, limit your smearing to glass surfaces only which won't stain and is very easy to clean!

Finally, to assist in the preparation for Zombie Events locally and world wide, I have created an Online Zombie Store found at http://www.vancouverhalloween.com/vh_ZombieStore.html

Zombie Walk Fundraising

This entry is a continuation of the first one that addresses the need for a charitable cause to be associated with the Zombie Walk event.

There has been a suggestion that we raise money for the Children's Hospital which is a great idea. However, I am concerned that associating a Zombie Walk with it's Undead bodies, oozing blood, severed limbs, and rotting faces, with a kid's cause could be perceived as "Too Intense" for children if you catch my meaning. But there definitely should be a charitable slant to the event.

But before we even consider a fundraising aspect to the Zombie Walk, lets first take an unbiased, objective look at the legal aspects of the walk.

Although I know little of the organizational structure of The Zombie Walk, I am almost certain that it is not an legal event: I don't believe permits were acquired for the event-please correct me if I am wrong. Consequently, this could prove difficult to have our walk sanctioned as an official charitable event for the Children's Hospital which requires an application and prior approval before the Hospital will align itself with any event.

Most charities will not want to associate themselves with what can be perceived to be as an unlawful gathering of a crowd that exhibits a blatant disregard for public safety, i.e. swarming oncoming traffic and causing traffic disruptions, illegally crossing through intersections on a red light, etc.

And of course there was the smearing of fake blood over windows and vehicles which is a labor expense to store owners and an inconvenience to car owners who now have to get out their cars to clear away the blood smears so there vision is not impaired while driving. Not to mention that banging on windows and rubbing up against cars could potentially cause some minor property damage like scratches in the body paint or cracked/broken windows.

See what I am saying? The Zombie Walk can be classified as a "Nuisance" event and what organization would want to associate themselves with it? The Zombie Walk would have to become "Main Stream" and legitimize itself with the proper permits and liability insurance which would contradict it's "Underground" nature and mystique which could make it much less appealing for potential zombie participants, reducing the overal interest and public turnout for the event.

So we come to a crossroad where important decisions must be made:

- Legitimize the event with proper permits and established codes of conduct, enabling the event to gain fundraising status and possibly attract sponsorship that could open the way to many more Zombie related activities and perhaps an official Zombie Day in the city.

- Or leave as it is and hope that no one gets hurt or property doesn't get damage which might force the police to ban future Zombie Walks.

...it's your choice.

My next entry will explore the Organizational aspects of an Official Zombie Walk.

Vancouver Zombie Walk 2007

Well I experienced my first Zombie Walk and it was a blast: It has been a long time since I laughed that hard and walked for so long... I have blisters on my rotting feet and aching muscles from the undead gait I willfully subjected myself to for two hours.

I attended the 2007 Vancouver Zombie with a good friend of mine who also experienced his first Zombie Walk and had just as much fun as I did. All my other (so called) friends and acquaintances apparently had "more important" things to do... Sheeesh! This is the Zombie Walk for groaning out loud!

Anyway, I only found out about this event 4 days prior to it thanks to an email I received via vancouverhalloween.com and after doing a little online research I was totally hooked, especially after watching a few YouTube videos about it. So in an undead frenzy I whipped up a web page about the Zombie Walk and jumped right into the community. I found MySpace and FaceBook pages, a Wikipedia entry, blogs, and even an official forum at zombiewalk.com. Did I say I was hooked?

Now for those of you who don't know me, I am always on the look out for a masquerade and the Vancouver Zombie Walk provided a perfect excuse to costume up. So in the days leading up to the walk, I bought some used clothing at Value Village and a few make-up effects at Thomas FX. I also have a well stocked make-up kit and Tickle Trunk so I was ready to transform myself into a zombie. (See my zombie photos here http://www.vancouverhalloween.com/vh_ZombieWalk.html )

Saturday finally arrived with as much anticipation of Christmas morning and off to Josh's house I went. Within the hour we were ready and driving downtown. Along the way we saw scattered groups of zombies and felt reassured that we wouldn't be the only two zombies on Georgia Street. By the time we got to the Art Gallery, around 2:50 pm, there were several dozen zombies and non-zombies already there. The Party had begun! As the minutes passed, our ranks began to swell to several hundred [I’m guessing].

I was amazed at the spectacle that spread out before me. I had never seen so many zombies gathered in one spot before and if you looked beyond the “lets pour blood over my head and call me a zombie” costume, you saw wonderfully horrifying examples of creativity and special effect make-up.

There were photographers and cell phone cameras everywhere with zombies and non-zombies taking pictures and posing with each other for gory keepsake remembrances of the living dead. For awhile there I felt like I was working at Disneyland but instead of being surrounded by the joyful giggles and laughter of little children, I was awash in the din of the relentless groaning of "Brains! Brains" repeated over and over again like some sort of zombie mantra. And all the while lifeless bodies of the undead were bouncing off each other in their mindless meandering and soon I found myself drawn into a gigantic, slow motion Zombie Mosh Pit.

Finally someone gave the word and we began our walk. It was at this time I realized that we had all missed an opportunity to something good for our community because lets face it, hundreds of zombies swarming the downtown core does pose a bit of a traffic and pedestrian inconvenience, not to mention all the bloody hand smudges on all those windows that need to be cleaned, so it would have been nice to say we were doing all this for a charitable cause…

We need and must give something back to the City of Vancouver who has thus far, graciously tolerated this event. So I strongly feel that next year and each year after that, there needs to be a chartable purpose to the Zombie Walk. Organ Donating and Giving Blood immediately comes to mind but a more practical option would be to bring some non-perishable food for the Vancouver Food Bank.

Let’s show the citizens of Vancouver that zombies aren’t just mindless, lifeless, thrill seekers, no let us show that zombies have heart (that is until it is eaten) and that we care for those less fortunate, and let us say “Thank You” for allowing us to indulge in our annual macabre masquerade with our generous donations.