Minnesotans dressed as the rotting, flesh-eating dead will take over downtown Minneapolis for the Guinness World Records-certified event on Saturday.
Billed as the world's largest gathering of zombies, the undead will schlep from bar to bar, double-fisting with hard liquor and braaaiiinsss (er, beer), while grooving to an impressive line up of past and current hitmakers on two outdoor stages.
The event set the official Guinness record in 2014 with 15,458 zombies. But crowds have swelled to almost 30,000 in other years. Organizers are estimating about 20,000 to 24,000 this year.
OK, so how about that concert line up? Let's turn to our music critic Chris Riemenschneider for his take on this year's tunes:
With the same tongue-in-flesh-eaten-cheek attitude as its zombie-attired attendees, the music lineup for ZPC '17 balances playfully chosen throwbacks and enduring hip-hop favorites. AutoTune-pioneering R&B singer/character T-Pain of "I'm in Luv (Wit a Stripper)" fame and "Semi-Charmed Life" early-'90s pop-rockers Third Eye Blind fill the former role, while Kansas City's indie-rap workhorse Tech N9ne and Jamaica-reared "Beautiful Girls" hitmaker Sean Kingston round out the latter. There's also a metal stage with Impaler and Morticia, younger rappers Jillionaire and Sammy Adams and a little EDM and local hip-hop, too.
Now in its 13th year, there are almost 20 bars involved in the crawl this time around. There will be a costume contest, "karaoke of the dead," and something called a "porta-party" (yikes!).
The main info is below, but this FAQ on the ZPC website is pretty nifty for all your brain-eating quesitons.
The bloody details
When: 5 p.m.-midnight Sat.
Where: Multiple stages/venues around 1st Av. N. & N. 5th St., Mpls.
Cost: $39-$90. Go here for tickets and more info.
