Downtown Lincoln Braces for Zombie Takeover

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A putrefied hand breaks through the earth’s crust and arcs in the foreground of the moon. Moments later, a second hand violently erupts through the once undisturbed soil. Both hands clench so tightly with frustration that the metacarpal bones can be seen through the translucent, grayish flesh. They frantically and impatiently claw at a definitive patch of dirt that seemingly harbors something of importance. What emerges next is unnerving. The earth around the area begins to mound and fracture. With a blood-curdling roar, an emaciated figure rises up from its eternal place of rest. The being’s discolored eyes pierce through the plume of dirt with a haunting malevolence. The being looks left, then right with dawdling apathy and stares at the hordes of others like him, each of them transfixed on the ambient light of the city. Earth fragments begin to shake loose from their tattered clothes as they take their first muddled steps.

They’re coming.

It will be a few days yet until they arrive, but Lincoln ZombieFest president Rebeca Rose is gearing up for the 5th annual Zombie Walk that will take place this Friday and Saturday, August 26th and 27th, at the Pershing Center in downtown Lincoln.

“I’m excited and a little nervous!” Rose says. “We have lots of new things planned for this year and we really hope that everyone will enjoy the additions. I love that Lincoln ZombieFest (LZF) is an organic event that is constantly changing and growing based off of what the zombie horde wants.”

ZombieFest will feature two days of zombie fun that culminates in a Zombie Walk Saturday night featuring thousands of zombies young and old. They will trudge down the sidewalks of downtown Lincoln searching for their “victims” (participants marked with large X’s) and engaging with the “Resistance Force” (participants dressed in military-style clothing who will try to contain the horde with Nerf guns during coordinated engagements along the route). The walk will eventually lead to a final standoff in front of the Broyhill Fountain on the UNL campus where the Resistance Force will inevitably succumb to the mercilessness of the zombies.

Friday, the first day of the event, is dubbed “Humans’ Last Stand,” and will last from 3:00 pm till 12:00 am. Day one will feature a zombie market, a variety of panels and seminars about zombies along with makeup and costume demonstrations, zombie resistance training, a zombie survival game, a zombie fashion show put on by Black Market and a street party with music from Eckophonic later in the evening.

“Pershing will be transformed into a safe haven with the Resistance Force patrolling the perimeter on the lookout for any zombies,” Rose says. “Inside, we will have zombie market where you can find everything you need for your inevitable transformation into a zombie: theatrical contacts, makeup, costume, teeth paint plus other items that will be of interest to the living and undead. We’ll have demonstrations on how to distress your own costume and zombie makeup 101 where we take you through the simple steps to zombify yourself and your friends.”

It’s Saturday. Downtown is desolate now. Their silhouettes can be seen off in the distance. Thousands of eyes gaze down upon the empty streets as families take shelter in the high rises and barricade themselves behind doors. Aurally, the setting is interlaced with echoed groans from outside and quiet whimpers from inside. The Resistance Force waits patiently outside the Pershing. A rotating yellow light from atop a Humvee flashes off the faces of soldiers dressed in ACU’s and armed to the teeth. The humans knew this day would come.

The second day is dubbed the “Zombie Invasion,” and will last from 11:00 am till 12:00 am. Day two of ZombieFest will again feature a zombie market, panels and seminars, as well as makeup and professional photo sessions, zombie belly dancers, three live bands, a costume contest, a group performance of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance and the Zombie Walk itself.

Rose explains the route the zombies will be taking throughout downtown:

“As always, we have parade permits that allow us to take specific routes through downtown Lincoln. We have 2 routes to better serve the hordes. The first one is the long one. We’ve clocked it as taking about one hour to complete and it winds down through the Haymarket before ending up at UNL’s Broyhill Fountain. The second route clocks in around 30 minutes. It hits some of “O” and “P” street before heading down 16th Street (Greek Row) to end up at Broyhill Fountain for the final showdown. Maps of the routes will be distributed at Pershing during both Friday and Saturday’s events.”

The second day will then conclude with another dance party at the Pershing, this time featuring DJ Shane.

Over the course of the two-day event, three very special guests will be making an appearance.

“The first is Dick Starr, who is an amazing horror artist. He will have prints on hand to autograph and sell. Next up is Pat Kilbane, who along with being an alum of MADtv also appeared in “Day of the Dead.” He will be doing a standup routine Friday night at 6p dressed as JD McGhoul, who happens to be the author of a new, unique zombie book, “The Brain Eater’s Bible.” Dean C. Jones is also joining us and will be responsible for Pat’s transformation into JD McGhoul. Dean has a long list of Hollywood movies he’s done makeup for including Pirates of the Caribbean, Fast & Furious and Day of the Dead to name a few. Everyone who attends Friday’s event will be entered into a drawing to have Dean do their makeup for Saturday’s walk.”

The event has grown to two days this year due to an overwhelming interest in the community. Using nothing but Facebook and MySpace to advertise this first Zombie Walk, Rose says the event started out with just 132 participants in 2007 and grew to 278 in 2008, to 689 in 2009, and finally to over 2,200 participants last year.
But Rose isn’t surprised that the event caught on so quickly.

“Who wouldn’t want to play dress up and have everyone around them play along? For one day, you get to be a part of a zombie movie, where even the unsuspecting citizens of downtown respond in character. It is a day of fun and play that the whole family can enjoy.”

Rose said she first got the idea for the Lincoln Zombie Walk when a friend sent her a YouTube video of their zombie walk in Orlando, Florida.

“The theme for our haunted house that year was zombies and we thought a zombie walk would be the perfect promotional event. Orlando had 33 zombies and all we wanted to do was get more than them, so we were ecstatic with 132 that year.”

While it may seem intuitive to hold ZombieFest in October, closer to Halloween, Rose said event organizers, who’ve been planning since last November, opted to do it at the end of August for a few reasons.

“First, we’re in Husker Nation, so we all know that you don’t mess with a football Saturday. Second, the organizers of the Lincoln ZombieFest also run a haunted house, Eagle Hollow Haunts, so October is out. Third, with The State Fair now in Grand Island, that left Lincoln’s schedule with an empty spot the weekend before Labor Day, which we were happy to fill. Lastly, it works with UNL students returning that week and is a great social event for college students to connect and for families to do something fun at the beginning of the school year.”

While Lincoln ZombieFest has an underlying feel of maliciousness and the macabre, event organizers are actually doing their part in giving back to the community that’s been so supportive of the event. Last year, they conducted a canned food drive, and this year, they will donate some of the proceeds to CEDAR’s Bridges program, a program that “offers supervised community-based apartment living for youth, ages 16 to 21, who may have been homeless or are coming out of the formal child welfare system and are learning independent living skills. CEDARS staff helps them to continue their education, develop essential life skills, gain and maintain employment, and develop long-lasting support systems,” according to their website.

Rose says they’ll have about 100 volunteers on hand to help make the event a reality, but they’re still taking volunteers for the registration table and the makeup department. If you’re interested in volunteering, click here.

As for where Rose gets most of her zombie inspiration?

“Picking a favorite zombie movie is like picking a favorite child; they’re all unique and entertaining in their own ways. I will say that Romero will always hold a special place in my heart, and the original Night of the Living Dead was my first zombie movie; though if I come across any of the Resident Evils on TV, I’m compelled to watch them until the end.”

Downtown Lincoln will be taken over this weekend. Their gaze will be noxious. Their intent will be malicious. And their hunger will be great. Will you survive?
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Admission to the event is $5 each day, or $8 for a weekend wristband. Children 12 and under are free. Event goers can even get “zombified” by 30-45 makeup artists who will be on hand. It’s $5 for makeup on either the face or body, and $2 for two small or one large latex wound.

For a list of rules, vendors and other details, visit Lincoln ZombieFest’s website, as well as their Facebook page or Twitter.

Schedule of Events:

Friday: Human’s Last Stand
3:00pm-8:00pm – Zombie Market
3:00pm-5:30pm - 
  Panels & Seminars
  Demonstrations-
Makeup & costumes
  Zombie survival game
  Zombie resistance Force training
  And More!
6:00pm-  Pat Kilbane from MADTV
  Performs “The Brain Eaters Bible”
7:00pm-  Black Market Fashion Show
8:00pm- “Eckophonics” Street Party
12:00am-Party ends, zombies take over

Saturday: Zombie Invasion
11:00am-6:30pm Zombie Market
12:00pm-5:00pm Makeup & Professional Photos
12:00pm-6:00pm Panels, Seminars, Demos
And more!
1:00 pm – Zombie belly dancers
2:00 pm- Live Band- “Chocolate Cake”
3:00 pm- Live Band- “The Escape Clause”
4:00 pm- Live band “Evicted”
4:00 pm- Live makeup session with Dean C.
  Jones Hollywood makeup artist on raffle contest winner
5:30 pm- Costume Contest
6:15 pm- Group performance of Thriller
6:30pm-  Pre-walk Talk
7:00pm- first ZOMBIE WALK-group leaves Pershing
7:30pm-  Second ZOMBIE WALK group departs
8:15pm- @ UNL union, military engagement,
  Public performance of thriller dance
8:30pm-  DJ Shane street party kicks off at Pershing
12:00am- Party ends