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4th Annual Downtown Gastonia Zombie Walk This Saturday

The Hungry Helping the Hungry.

That’s the motto of the Downtown Gastonia Zombie Walk and Food Drive.

The event, now in its fourth year, will take place on Saturday, October 3rd in Downtown Gastonia. 

Flagship, a Charlotte-based band gaining national notoriety with songs like “Life Underwater” and “I Want You” will be headlining the day’s musical acts in the Rotary Pavilion. 

According to Sue Ann Robb, event organizer and owner of the popular Gastonia salon Running With Scissors, the idea was to bring people downtown by using a popular show and current fad as a means to gain interest.

“A lot of cities have similar events,” says Robb, “but we wanted something fresh, something not so tame.  It’s definitely made bigger by the show.”


The 2014 event in downtown.  Photo by Dave Superville.
The popularity of the AMC show, The Walking Dead, is undeniable but it appears that most folks just love the event and want to support the burgeoning development of Downtown Gastonia.

Artists and stylists from the Gastonia Paul Mitchell School and Venturing Crew 6 will be on hand painting faces and creating zombie looks for anyone who donates at least 2 cans of food. 

Vendors include everything from crafts and jewelry to food and snacks as well as informational groups such as Gaston PFLAG and Howlermano Photography.

Musical acts this year are quite varied and include local Gastonia bands, The Sticky Bandits and The Menders, known for their rock and “garage folk” sound respectively.  The country band, Sinners and Saints, from Charlotte will also join along with Bear With Me, an alternative rock band from Greensboro. 

The music starts around 1 pm with Flagship taking the stage at 7 pm.               

For the first time this year there will also be an antiques fair taking place which will include booths by Gaston Pickers and Madd Hatters Antiques. 

The festivities also include the actual walk or parade of zombies which circles through several blocks of downtown and up alongside Franklin Boulevard with plenty of opportunities for drivers and walkers on the street to get a good view of folks who would easily qualify for central casting of any horror movie.

Many participants come to the event already in make-up, wigs and the full-on apparel of the undead which is usually torn, tattered and blood-stained.  And yes, there are prizes for the best and scariest zombies of them all.

“It’s definitely fun and kid-friendly,” says Whitney Noble, also a stylist

at Running With Scissors who brings her son out every year.  “It’s a pretty cool event.”


With all the fun and undead revelry, it’s easy to forget that this event does such a good turn for Bread Inc., a free food pantry in Gastonia.  Last year, the event collected over 1700 cans of food for the non-profit charity.  Admission to the Zombie Walk is free, but participants are encouraged to bring canned goods.             


“Downtown Gastonia is trying to evolve into an arts district,” says Robb.  “The idea here is to get people downtown for something interesting and fun and to help the needy at the same time.”


The event starts at 1 pm and lasts until 8 pm on Main Street in Gastonia.

(Originally printed in The Gaston Gazette on September 13, 2015.)
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