When JoJo Seames and Andrew Ihla got married a year ago, their wedding day fell on the same day as the first-ever Zombie Fest in downtown Grand Forks. As fans of the walking dead, the newlyweds didn't want to miss the fun, so their reception took a little detour.
"I stopped by Town Square with my whole wedding party to take pictures," Seames said. "We got some great pictures of us all being attacked by wedding zombies."
The happy couple weren't the only ones who had a good time at the 2010 Zombie Fest. The event was a big success, said Marie Strinden director of North Valley Arts Council, which sponsors the zombie fun. Most surprising to her were the number of families who brought their children downtown for a ghoulish good time.
This year Zombie Music Fest will be from 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday in Town Square, once again featuring family activities, a free kids' crafts booth sponsored by ArtWise, live music, food, a beer garden for older ghouls and more. You don't have to dress as a zombie to attend. However, the event will feature a make-up booth where participants can become zombie-fied. Seames, who designed promotional posters for the event, will be there drawing caricatures. Her husband made the Zombie Fest promo movie that's been showing at River Cinema.
Zombies, those pasty-gray un-dead ghouls who mindlessly pursue hapless humans, have been part of pop culture for years but seem to be especially celebrated right now. Many communities are throwing successful zombie events these days. There's even a popular TV series called "The Walking Dead."
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People like zombies because they're really scary, Seames said. They look hideous and they represent the fear of being overtaken by forces beyond your control, she said. And -- let's face it -- it's fun to look and act like a zombie.
"You can wear any kind of clothes," said Seames, a comic book artist. "You kind of rip them up a little bit to make it look like you were in a struggle and lost. Your hair should be disheveled. You have options for makeup, from smudging black grease paint, or you can get really elaborate and use all kinds of stage makeup to make fake wounds and blood." It's the kind of thing both adults and kids can have fund doing, she said.
"It's the same feeling as Halloween," she said. "It's really fun to be dressed up in costumes and it's a big game of make-believe for a night."
Live bands for Zombie Music Fest will be One Ten Ride at 3 p.m., Go Steve Jones at 4 p.m., Dirty Phoenix at 6 p.m. and Aultimate Ozzy, an Ozzy Osbourne tribute, at 8:30 p.m. The Zombie Costume Contest will be at 8 p.m. and include an appearance by the Forx Roller Derby Team.
Tickets will be $10 for adults, $5 for students or with a military ID, and free for ages 10 and younger. They're available at Valley Dairy locations. Info: www.novac.org/.
Reach Tobin at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or send e-mail to ptobin@gfherald.com .
