Newquay’s zombie invasion is coming back bigger than ever

Mark the date. On Saturday 24 October, Newquay‘s high street will fill with the shuffling, groaning, wildly creative undead again, and organisers say more people than ever are planning half-term around it.

Newquay BID is bringing back Spooky Newquay, its annual Halloween takeover of the town, with free family entertainment, spooky workshops and offers from local businesses building up to the day’s main event: the return of the Zombie Crawl. What began as a local costume parade has grown into what organisers now call one of the UK’s biggest free family Halloween events, drawing national press and television coverage in recent years and, they say, families travelling from as far as London and Cardiff to be there.

Half-term in Cornwall runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October this year, and Spooky Newquay opens the weekend before it, with the crawl itself falling on the Saturday.

Workshops and activities from half past ten

The day starts long before the zombies do. From 10:30am, spooky activities spread out across the town centre, running from Fore Street through to Cliff Road, with businesses including the new Nici Hotel on East Street joining in for the first time.

The programme includes face painting, storytelling, wound-making workshops, banner-making, dancing, stilt walking, circus skills and pumpkin carving, much of it run by local venues opening their doors for the day. According to the event’s own listings, that includes face painters at Central, The SaltShed, Choukette and The Cinema, a costume workshop at Sailors, banner-making at Concho Lounge and the Nici Newquay, a pumpkin workshop at Project 83, a wound workshop at Ralph’s, and a circus skills session at the Killacourt.

Titan the Robot returns to the Killacourt

At 2pm, Titan the Robot takes over the Killacourt for what organisers promise will be a spooktacular burst of energy, comedy and robotic mayhem. If the weather turns, the performance moves indoors to Newquay Cinema instead.

The Zombie Crawl itself

The main event begins at 3pm, when the procession sets off from Oakleigh Terrace, just off Cliff Road, and works its way through the town centre. It’s expected to finish near Sainsbury’s at around 4pm to 4:30pm.

Families, children and adults are being encouraged to dress up as imaginatively, frighteningly or as fun as they like for the walk. Zombies, witches, monsters and ghouls are all fair game. The RNLI will lead the parade through town, with marshalling support from Newquay Lions Club and Towan Blystra Lions.

Two Halloween trails, in town and at Trenance

New this year, Newquay BID and Visit Newquay are running two separate Halloween trails across the half-term period. One winds through the town centre, sending families to participating businesses to collect stamps on a trail form and find the Halloween activities dotted around. A second runs at Trenance, giving families another reason to explore that part of town. Complete a trail and there’s a Halloween gift up for grabs.

Spooky fun across the rest of the town

Beyond the organised workshops, businesses across Newquay are getting into the spirit with spooky discos, silent discos, kids’ karaoke, dress-up competitions, decorated shopfronts, themed coffees, themed cocktails and offers of their own. Businesses can add their own events, offers and activations to the Spooky Newquay programme through an exclusive link, and an interactive map on the Zombie Crawl website lets visitors find whatever’s on where.

New Zombie Crawl merchandise

For the first time, Newquay BID has partnered with Hunters on Bank Street, a family-run high street business, to put out official Zombie Crawl merchandise. A new, family-friendly Spooky Newquay Zombie Crawl logo has been created for the occasion and will appear on T-shirts and hoodies, giving regulars and first-timers something to take home from the day.

“No longer just a local event”

Mark Warren, Newquay BID Manager, has run the event for four years and says it keeps growing.

“I absolutely love organising this event,” he said. “I’ve been involved for four years now, and every year it seems to get bigger and better. It’s fantastic to see people dressing up, smiling scary faces and enjoying themselves. The whole town really comes alive with the dead!”

He said the event’s reach now stretches well beyond Cornwall. “What’s particularly exciting is that this is no longer just a local event. We’re hearing from people who are travelling from places such as London and Cardiff and planning their holidays around Spooky Newquay. Some visitors have even told us that they now plan this as part of their annual holiday arrangements, which is fantastic news.”

“The event has grown to such a scale that it is now regarded as one of the biggest free family events in the UK,” he added. “The Zombie Crawl is getting noticed nationally, including through press and television coverage, and it’s a brilliant opportunity to showcase Newquay.”

Built by a long list of local partners

Spooky Newquay is organised by Newquay BID, with support from Newquay Town Council, Newquay Lions Club, Towan Blystra Lions, WAX Events and a wide list of returning performers: Blystra Arts, Hotch Potch, Bounce Dance Academy, 4 Motion, Cornwall Theatre School, Newquay Samba Band, Cornwall Rock Choir and Titan the Robot. Radio Newquay will be broadcasting through the day and helping spread the word beforehand.

A brand new website, built for free

WAX Events has sponsored the event with a brand new website, ZombieCrawl.co.uk, built free of charge. It carries an interactive map of workshop locations, live updates through the day, event listings and a place for visitors to share their own photos from the crawl. Businesses can also use the site to add their own events and offers to the programme. Organisers are encouraging anyone planning to go along to check it before the day and save it to their phone.

Getting there

Parking is available in Newquay town centre and at Trenance, about a five-minute walk from where the parade sets off. The key times for Saturday 24 October:

• 10:30am – workshops and activities begin
• 2pm – Titan the Robot at the Killacourt
• 3pm – Zombie Crawl departs Oakleigh Terrace
• 4pm to 4:30pm – parade expected to finish near Sainsbury’s

Anyone doing the Trenance trail doesn’t need to rush it into one day either. Both trails run right through to the end of October half-term, so there’s time to collect every stamp before handing in the form for that Halloween gift.