Presented by Walnut Street Publishing and Be Caffeinated, the 2nd Annual Zombie Fun Run, Festival, and G(rave) afterparty is set to take over the Red Bank Community Center this Saturday, September 12th, with a strange, spooky, and unique community-oriented event.
The evening begins early, with a Zombie Festival featuring over 30 artists, vendors, and a host of food trucks, costumes, various activities, and the walking dead. There will also be a blood drive hosted by Blood Assurance of Chattanooga, which is fitting for the evening’s theme.
Following the festival, there is the Zombie Fun Run, where runners will make their way through what starts as a light jaunt at Red Bank High School's football field, before turning into something far more spooky, as runners will have to fend off the undead at the trails of Godsey Ridge, weaving their way in and out of bloody thirsty zombies.
At the end of the evening, and towards the tail end of the fun run, is the G(rave) after party and rave, which will have a live DJ spinning killer tracks, as well as food trucks, dancing, drinks, and a screening of a local film. The entire experience is designed to get folks together as the cooler temperatures roll in and celebrate community and connection through something we can all get behind and bond over: a healthy fear of the undead.
In speaking with Emily Quinn, the social media and community outreach coordinator for Walnut Street Publishing, she discussed how the mission of Walnut Street Publishing aligns with the focus and aim of the Fun Run and Festival, detailing how ingrained the publishing company is in the creative scene in Chattanooga, and that the festival is ultimately an excuse to get folks together.
“Walnut Street Publishing is a publisher, but we've never wanted to exist only as a company that makes books. We want to be part of the creative ecosystem here. We want writers meeting painters, painters meeting filmmakers, filmmakers meeting musicians, and everybody finding people they might never have crossed paths with otherwise.
The zombie theme is really just the excuse we're using to get everybody together. There's something special about creating space for artists to be a little weird. Art spaces can sometimes feel very serious or intimidating, and this is absolutely not that. Come sell your work next to someone dressed like the undead. Make friends. Dance. Chase somebody through the woods. Whatever. We take supporting artists very seriously; we just don't think we have to take ourselves seriously while doing it.”
When discussing the impact that the fun run and festival has had on the Red Bank community and the greater Chattanooga area, Quinn mentioned seeing firsthand how people have shown up for this community-enriching event, and that she wants to see it continue to put money in the hands of local vendors and small businesses.
“We’ve seen firsthand how much Red Bank shows up for local businesses, artists, and community events, and the city has been incredibly welcoming to this very weird idea. It also happens to be the perfect setting. The Community Center gives us a home for the festival, while Godsey Ridge lets us send people into an actual wooded trail to be chased by zombies.
We want it to bring people into the area, put money directly into the hands of local artists and businesses, and give residents something genuinely different to look forward to every year. If Red Bank becomes known for an annual tradition involving local art, fake blood, zombies in the woods and a giant dance party, we’d be pretty happy with that.”
Quinn went on to examine plans for the Zombie Fun Run and Festival, suggesting that five years from now she hopes the event is a staple in Red Bank, and that while they obviously want it to grow, they also want it to remain humble, community-driven, and strange at heart.
“I would love for five years from now there to be people who have been coming every year, families who make costumes together, artists who plan new work for it, runners trying to beat the zombies again, and people who hear September and immediately start thinking about Zombie Fest.
We'd love to see more artists, more filmmakers, more music, more ridiculous zombie world-building, and more of the community getting involved. But we don't ever want growth to mean sanding off the weird edges. We want it to feel unmistakably like something that could only happen here, created by the people who live and make things here. So yes, we want it bigger, but we also want it weirder.”
Zombie Fun Run and Festival.
- Saturday, September 12.
- Red Bank Community Center. 3653 Tom Weathers Drive, Red Bank.
- 2-11 p.m. $10-$60.
- walnutstreetpublishing.com/zombie-fun-run