Zombie Walk

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At the Vancouver, B.C., Zombie Walk in 2005.

A participant in a zombie walk in Calgary.

A zombie walk is an organized public gathering of two or more people who dress up in zombie costumes. Usually taking place in an urban centre, the participants make their way around the city streets and through shopping malls in a somewhat orderly fashion and often limping and gnawing their way towards a local cemetery.

Promoted primarily through word of mouth and online message boards, zombie walks are considered by most participants to be an underground activity. Participants include anyone from executive management to the homeless which makes for an interesting social setting.

For the entirety of the event, beginning during gathering at the designated meeting spot, participants are encouraged to remain in character and to communicate only in a manner consistent with zombies (such as grunts, groans and slurred moans calling for “brains”.)

One of the first Zombie Walks was held in October 2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with 6 participants. The first widely documented Zombie Walk occurred in Vancouver, B.C., on August 27, 2005, with over 400 participants. That walk proceeded through the Pacific Centre Mall, travelled on the SkyTrain (referred to for the event as the “SkyBrain”) and continued 35 blocks to the Mountainview Cemetery.

Other sites that have had zombie walk events include San Francisco, Montréal, Calgary[The First Annual Calgary Zombie Walk], and Seattle.

See also

• Flash mob
• Subway party

References