Crawl to Old Town for Zombie Fest

The fourth annual Zombie Fest will truly be a ‘fest to die for.’ The festival will occur on Oct. 19 at 5pm and starts in Old Town Square.
The idea is that people can celebrate Halloween early by dressing up like a zombie and trying out various products that the businesses of Old Town have to offer.
With the purchase of a $16 wristband, Zombie Crawl participants get five punch passes to various businesses in town. Participating venues will have a giveaway item available between 5pm and 9:34 pm. There are about 60 venues participating scattered around Northern Ft. Collins, which offer things such as food, beer, jewelry and clothing.
“We had things like Akinz, giving away designer t-shirts, and then Taste of Philly giving away free sandwiches, so you could get your fill of everything,” said Nathan Scott, the creator of Zombie Fest. “We have such a variety, and that’s the real beauty of the event.”
Not only is the wristband a great deal, but it’s for a good cause. All proceeds go to Turning Point, which helps children by providing therapy and counseling. Scott is the community outreach coordinator at Turning Point and started the festival in 2010 with 25 venders. Last year the festival had grown to 64 venders.
In the past, the Zombie Crawl has been a huge success, raising over $37,000 last year. It’s great for the businesses involved too, because it gives them the opportunity to create customers when people try new, cool businesses they wouldn’t normally check out.
Since many people go all-out on their zombie costumes, it can be a frightful night, but there is a family-friendly Zombie Kidz crawl from 4pm to 6pm. It will feature ten venues just for kids. There’s also a Zombie Parade on College Avenue at 7pm and a costume contests on the Old Town stage during the crawl.
Adults that are over 21 can have some special fun of their own at the Zombie Ball, held at Washington’s Sports Bar and Grill starting at 9:30pm. Zombies have to buy a separate ticket to this event, which costs $15. It’s well worth the price, with free alcohol giveaways and various prizes.
The Silent Hill Nurses and BlueStocking Burly-Q will be performing, as well as live DJs in the morgue (the basement of Washington’s).
“If you really want to dance, go on down to the morgue. We’ve got plenty of room, body bags included,” Scott said.
If you want to get zombie-fied, visit the official zombie headquarters at Brand Spanking Used Thrift Store. They will be selling costumes and makeup. They’ll even dirty-up your costumes to make them more zombie-like.
Scott said he’s seen it all, from zombie cat lady to zombie Little Red Riding Hood to zombie Ronald McDonald.
“It knows no bounds in terms of how creative people can get,” Scott said. “You take an idea and you twist it into your own thing – they call it a mash-up. I think people are learning that they can do whatever they want. Knowing all the people that come out of the woodwork to help is great.”
If you don’t want to come in costume, there will be Zombie Fest t-shirts for sale in Old Town square the day of the event.
Scott wants people to remember, “You’re buying a wristband, but you’re also helping a kid.”
For tickets go to www.oldtownzombie.com and like Fort Collins Zombie Crawl on Facebook for event updates.