Zombie Aid

by Alex Singleton on 10.02.10

Everyone has a Zombie plan. Well… everyone I know has a zombie plan, that is, a plan in case of zombies or zombie related shenanigans. They know the best place to hide, the best place to set traps, the best bite retardant clothes to wear and the best place to find a crowbar. It is then unfortunate that after so much thought and preparation, the actual chance of putting these plans into action is somewhat slim. Bar those of course who incorporate the ‘zombie plan’ into the ‘in case of fire plan’ on the fridge.

That said, if a zombie apocalypse were to occur, there is really only one place it could happen, and that’s Manchester. Its not because Manchester has a habit of importing mysterious goods from deepest, darkest Africa, or because we’re world leaders in creating new genetic strains of super viruses, but rather because Manchester is just the place to be. Even zombies know that.

That is why on November 1st Manchester was overrun with over a thousand marauding zombies. The spectacle, aptly named Zombie Aid 2 was organised with the joint venture of earning some cash for Christies Hospice and breaking the world record for the largest number of zombies in one place. The first Zombie Aid took place in July 2009 and came within a hundred zombies of breaking the record, so with renewed enthusiasm at coming so close organiser Chloe Winstanley began gearing up for an even bigger, even better Zombie Aid 2.

As potential zombies arrived they were ushered into one of the Printworks many bars where zombification experts were on hand with face paint and fake blood in exchange for a small donation to charity. The actual Zombie walk was kicked off in style by the worlds first double zombie wedding. However, as great a start as this was, it did mean loosing two zombies right away as the happy couple jetted off to New Orleans on their honeymoon, courtesy of Left4Dead 2.

The horde of zombies moaned and stumbled through Manchester city centre, through the Arndale Centre and back to the Printworks in just under an hour, which if you know much about zombie lap times is pretty good going. Welcoming back the undead travellers was entertainment from bands including T-shirts for Americans, Resist, Ben and Zombina and the Skeletones.

Whilst the total number of zombies topped Zombie Aid 1, bringing in a staggering 1838 zombies, the actual record had been beaten just months prior by star of the Mighty Boosh and Never Mind the Buzzcocks team captain, Noel Fielding who had managed to amass 4037 zombies on the 6th of August in Nottingham. Therefore poor Chloe Winstanley was cheated out of her place in Zombie history once again, or perhaps would have been if it had not been for the throng of zombie dancers in nightclub PURE who managed to top the British record for the greatest number of people doing the dance to Thriller in sync. So in all the day could only be view as a massive success as Chloe is quick to proclaim, “The day was fantastic and we had Zombies of all ages ranging from tiny babies through to older grandparents. The atmosphere was unbelievable with the whole of the Printworks overtaken by Zombies”.

So is this the last we’ve seen of the walking dead in our fine city, or is this a sign of things to come? “We have had such a positive response from the first two Zombie Aids, and it has proven that this unique event can definitely grow to become bigger and better, and hopefully gain national recognition. We are still looking to break the world record as well as raising money for Charity and we aim to do this with Zombie Aid 3 in 2010”. No crowbars though please.

Watch out for more zombie action at www.zombie-aid.com