You may have noticed that there is a film being made in downtown Fernie.
Well, on Friday night the film crew and resident onlookers were given a whole different genre of movie star as over 20 zombies lurched and limped their way down Second Avenue wreaking bloody havoc on the cute little Christmas scene. No this was not yet another Dawn of the Dead remake but in fact Fernie's third annual Zombie Walk.
Zombie walks are organised events where groups of people dressed as the undead gather and make their way through shopping malls and city streets, often to raise awareness for local and global issues such as food shortages and blood drives.
The first, with six participants, was recorded in 2001 in Sacramento, California as part of a film festival promotion and more recently the 2010 Guinness World Records documented 4,093 zombies groaning their way through the streets of New Jersey. With World Zombie Day now an annual event with over 30 cities participating, the movement is literally spreading across the world like rotting flesh.
Originally the brain child of Big Bubba Tres band members and some dedicated locals, this year’s Fernie Zombie Walk had the bloody ghouls meet at The Grand Central and moan their way downtown through bars, engulfing people’s cars as they shocked and entertained the crowds. Once the calls for brains had been heard and the blood had been drooled, Fernie's zombie mob headed back to The Central where Big Bubba Tres was set to blast them with their alternative blend of space rock, death country and their giant confetti cannon!
This year’s walk was a definite success as the cameras turned to the creatively creepy members of Fernie's local community. It is the zombies mission to collect souls as they walk and turn them into fellow zombies creating a zombie snowball as they go. Hopefully next year more will join the spirit and we can make this event one for the Fernie calendar.
By Stephanie Fleming
Contributor
