If you’re looking for something more than just costumes and candy this Halloween, Smoky Mountain Zombie Fest has got you covered. Not to say that there won’t be costumes and candy — they’ve got that too — but there will be much more.
Beginning with a 5K at 8 a.m., festivities will include everything from inflatables and escape games to vendors and live music.
The day-long fundraiser has an admittance fee of just $5, which will benefit the Sevier County Senior Center. More specifically, funds raised will go to the outreach dental program for veterans and seniors.
Director Jane Howes spoke of the conceptualization of the event.
“We kind of wanted to create a signature event as a fundraiser,” Howes said. “We were trying to think of different ideas for a 5K … We found a zombie run somewhere out in Indiana, and we thought, ‘Oh my gosh, a zombie 5K — that sounds so cool.’ So then we said, ‘Oh let’s do a Zombie Fest!’”
In keeping with the theme of the event, Howes explained that there will be random zombies walking along the path throughout the run.
Once the run ends at 10 a.m., the rest of the day’s festivities will be underway — beginning with zombie bingo, Hillbilly golf, golf ball ladder toss and a corn hole tournament with a cash prize for the winner.
“It’s kind of a neat event because we’ve planned it for any age group,” Howes said. “Young kids all the way up to seniors can come to it and have a good time.”
Event coordinator Karen Estep explained that a wide variety of activities will keep children happy and entertained throughout the day.
“We have the huge thing for kids — the kid zone we’re calling it,” Estep said. “It has face painting, all kinds of activities where they’ll be making bird feeders and golf ball animals, and we’ve got Lego Land where they can go play with Legos, a puppet show, Zumba for kids — there’s about 12 or 14 activities that they can do inside and then inflatables outside and trick-or-treating in the evening.”
Food, drink and craft vendors will all be on-site throughout the day as well, and the band jam competition, live auction and costume contest will begin at 3 p.m.
Knoxville Ice Bears’ head coach, Mike Craigen, will emcee as bands Dixie Rose, Burning Turley, Southern Star and Paper Mannequin battle it out for crowd favorite.
All in all, Howes is looking forward to a successful and fun event, and she has been very pleased with the support that the event has already received — particularly from sponsors.
“The sponsors are just kind of eating it up; we’ve had a great response from them,” Howes said. “They’re donating things for the auction and whatever we’ve needed — we’ve been able to ask people, and they’re gladly donating it. We’ve been totally surprised by all the support we’ve gotten from sponsors and every age group.”
The event will take place, rain or shine, on Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Sevier County Fairgrounds. The cost is $5 for anyone over the age of 5 and will allow attendees to participate in most of the activities throughout the day.
