The zombie craze has taken hold like no other. Wyoming congress even debated legislation to purchase an aircraft carrier in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Whether or not they were serious is fodder for another story.
The Cheyenne Little Theatre Players will host the second annual Zombie Fest Saturday in Depot Park and at the Historic Atlas Theater. The event starts at 10 a.m. and for some lucky, or unlucky depending on your point of view, people will not end until 7 a.m. Sunday morning.
Zombie Fest was created as a way to raise money for the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players, Rory Mack, chairman for Zombie Fest, said. Zombies are popular in pop culture today and Zombie Fest embraces all things zombie.
Last year’s success of Zombie Fest was unexpected. “We had about 5000 people come,” Mack said. “And for a city the size of Cheyenne, that’s huge.”
People from all walks of life attended last year’s event. Mack said people were bringing their kids dressed as zombies. A lot of older people attended as well, but the main demographic was the 20-30 age group.
This year, Zombie Fest has much to do and see. There will be a Zombieland for kids. “It’s like a school carnival with a zombie twist. It’s as family friendly as the zombie apocalypse can be,” Mack said.
The Zombie Walk and Zombie Prom will be the main attractions, as well as a special screening of the Best Worst Movie Ever Made, Troll 2, with special guest host George Hardy. Hardy played Michael Waits in the movie.
Other guests include Jonathan Maberry, NY Times Best Selling Author and winner of the Bram Stoker Award, and Dr. Bob Curran, a paranormal folklorist and writer from Northern Ireland.
For people interested in the paranormal, a special raffle will be offered to spend the night in the Atlas Theater with Cheyenne based paranormal group PHOG. PHOG was established in 2010 and has since investigated some of the most haunted sites in Cheyenne.
The Cheyenne Little Theatre Players is a non-profit community theater. Their goal is to provide “high quality, community based theatrical entertainment and education to people of all ages in the tri-state region of Wyoming, northern Colorado and western Nebraska.” Their major focus is theater education.
For more information on Zombie Fest or any of their other programs visit their website at www.cheyennelittletheatre.org.
The second annual Zombie Fest to benefit the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players will be from 10 a.m. – midnight Saturday at Depot Park and the Historic Atlas Theater.
