![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.lbpost.com\/images\/jeffrey\/zombiewalk\/zom2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A pair of undead walkers stop to pose for a picture at last year’s Zombie Walk. Photo by Jeffrey Smallwood.<\/em><\/p>\n For the past seven years, Logan Crow and the Long Beach Cinematheque<\/a> have transformed Downtown Long Beach into a sort of zombified Coachella. This year, he\u2019s teaming up with O Entertainment and transforming the undead invasion into a three-day zombie apocalypse. <\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is the same every year: zombies taking over Long Beach. The bands are all Halloween-y and vendors are horror-themed while the guests are all ghouls,\u201d Crow said. \u201cBut we\u2019re sort of going to stretch it out and have more of an opening night and have Dr. Demento<\/a> kick off the party.\u201d <\/p>\n Crow said the Long Beach Zombie Walk<\/a> would return to a park setting, unlike past year\u2019s urbanized version. Despite receiving support from various downtown business to move the event onto Pine Avenue, Crow said it presented many problems. <\/p>\n \u201cI love the [Zombie Walk event], but it\u2019s grown larger than I ever dreamed,\u201d Crow said. \u201cThe flip side is that as a non-profit organization, we\u2019re not major event coordinators and we\u2019re faced with the challenge of keeping up with the direction of the event and also making sure that we get all the insurances the city wants.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the event includes more than inviting attendees to dress up as the living dead, Crow said one of the criticisms he receives the most is the $15 admission fee. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen it became clear that this city wanted [the Zombie Walk] to be properly permitted and secured, the challenge for me was that I had to charge people,\u201d Crow said. \u201cI refuse to charge them just to walk, so that sort of spurred the question, \u2018Well, where can we take this event?\u2019 and that\u2019s where the festival happened. Now I feel comfortable with what we have with tons of vendors, films and other activities.\u201d<\/p>\n With a handful of bands already lined up for this year\u2019s event, along with the Vendetta Pro Wrestlers and live film screenings, there are still guests who compare Long Beach\u2019s zombie walk to others. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen a lot of people talk about my event, they point to other cities, \u2018Why can\u2019t you do it like [the LA Zombie Walk]?\u2019 and 99.9 percent of the time, they don\u2019t have to go through a permitting process,\u201d Crow said. \u201cI understand the need for permits and God forbid something happens, I want to have first aid and access to fire trucks, but that\u2019s the big distinction.\u201d<\/p>\n The three-day event will have a different theme each day. The first day will have a prom night theme, featuring Count Smokula, the Radioactive Chickenheads and DJ Dr. Demento. <\/p>\n The actual Walk will take place on Saturday, where guests will do their best zombie shuffle from the park to the Shoreline and around Rainbow Harbor. Crow said this day would most resemble events from the past. <\/p>\n Crow said that because some parents comment that some bands are too aggressive, Sunday will be dedicated toward a family-friendly focus but will still retain its spooky appeal. <\/p>\n This year\u2019s Zombie Walk will take place at the Rainbow Lagoon starting on Oct. 24 through 26. Tickets are $15 per day, and children under 12 years of age are free. For further information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"