ZOMBIE TAKEOVER: ‘Keep on Living’ crawl Saturday

BREAKING NEWS: The Zombie invasion has started in Anchorage. We have seen evidence of this phenomenon all month long. On October 5th, local favorite performer Scarlett Crypt, along with her ‘Ghoul’ friends, presented the Zombie Prom at Mad Myrna’s. Attendees were treated to frightening performances from Crypt, Bunnicula Blanc, Syd D’Lust and more. The madness continued a week later when the Anchorage Running Club and Skinny Raven sports presented the Zombie Half-Marathon at Kincaid, proving that the invasion was spreading across this city of ours. We have now gotten word that on Saturday, October 19th the streets of downtown will be literally crawling with reanimated corpses as Zombie Crawl 2019: “Keep on Living” begins.

The upcoming Zombie Crawl is produced by ECCAK, or Event and Concert Coordinators of Alaska, and AK Pub Crawls and is the brainchild of Adrianna Foltz. This will be the second annual crawl, and as it was last year, the party is a benefit for local charities. It is unique in the fact that rather than just including bars on the map, marijuana dispensaries are also getting into the giving spirit. The two charities that will benefit are the Arc of Anchorage and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: Alaska.

Sponsorship level to be part of the crawl have ranged from $400 to $1,500 for the locations involved, and a generous sponsorship from Jägermeister and Coors Light by way of Blue Moon have alleviated the cost of operation by a lot. Bars and restaurants like Matanuska Brewing Company Downtown, Gaslight, 49th State Brewing Company, Pioneer Bar, Williwaw Social, and The Avenue will be spots on the map. Dispensaries like Satori, Great Northern Cannabis, Tundra Herb Company and Denali Dispensaries will also be included. These locations make this a decidedly 21 and up event, and each location has been proactive about setting up silent auctions, donation spaces, and other ways to raise extra funds for the event.

One of the most difficult parts for the group organizing the event was picking the charities. There are so many deserving causes in this city. While still in the planning stages of the event, the group was personally affected by a suicide attempt by a person very close to all of them. The support that the group and the individual received from those involved in the mental health community brought them to a new level of understanding of how much work still needs to be done.

“It is one of the biggest issues that has always faced Alaska. Taking time out of my schedule to help raise awareness and funding for something so misunderstood will always be worth it to me.” Foltz said, highlighting that it brought them to a new level of understanding regarding how prevalent and misunderstood mental illness really is, and continued, “This cannot be an issue that we wait to talk about until it is too late.”

This was when they decided on the first charity that would benefit. Dustin Morris, the area director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention was happy to come on board and be part of the event.

Next, they received word that another friend had been working closely with the Arc of Anchorage and let the team know about some needs that the local organization had. After a few conversations they became aware of the new rec center for Arc clients, and a program for said clients that helped them be involved with community enrichment, and sometimes that means a trip to a place that serves alcohol.

“For non-profits to understand the power of these industries to raise funds for worthy causes, instead of demonizing us, is really empowering,” said Foltz. For the team, community enrichment also means a quality of life, and that’s when this year’s theme became clear. For both charities, the words “Keep on Living” are a mantra. It also became the battle cry for the planning committee.

One of the unique portions of this pub crawl is the addition of Zombie FX makeup studios at many of the stops. These makeup studios will be up and operating for a couple of hours before, and throughout the night in order to help people that might not have the time or talent to make a complete look can fully participate. These talented technicians are just one more of the reasons that this has become a true community event.

“In these colder months downtown businesses see a slump, so the final part for me is reminding people what a great area of town this really is.” explained Foltz, and then said. “Often times we think of the downtown bar areas as where trouble starts, but I like showing folks that the owners and employees are also members of this area, and want to see it be the best it can be.”

Many of the sponsors have also committed to donating giveaways for the week leading up to the event as well as at the event itself. The grand prize for completing the map is the choice between either 100,000 airline miles, or $1,000 cash. There will be giveaways including cold tap Jägermeister machines, hoodies, t-shirts and more.

When asked about their inspiration for the event the planning committee paid homage to the famous Pirate Pub Crawl that occurs in September of each year, noting that it is inspiring to see an organization be able to rally the community for something that raises so many funds for a great cause. Their hope is not to overtake the Pirate Crawl but be another reason to show what these industries can do when they come together for a good cause. There are a lot of pub crawls that happen each week in this town. Foltz and her crew at AK Pub Crawls support each of these, but they always want their focus to be on showing what a difference a bunch of stumbling “zombies” can do with the right inspiration.