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Benton Area Chamber of Commerce

October 10, 2019 By Shelli Poole

Old Fashioned Day 2019 includes Zombie Parade, Coffin Race and more to Combine for 2 Days of Fun Oct 11-12

by

There will be two days in downtown Benton with several big events that people wait for all year. There’s Old Fashioned Day, the Arkansas Coffin Race, the Undead 5K race, a Zombie Street Dance and a Zombie pageant. The City of Benton, the Downtown Benton Business Owners and the Benton Senior Activity and Wellness Center coming together to host these events, coordinating them to make a huge event to appeal to all ages.

Scroll to the end to see the schedule and participation info.

It all starts on Friday, October 11th at 6:00 p.m., with the “Little Man and Little Miss Zombie Pageant” at the Royal Theatre at 111 S. Market Street. This pageant is for boys and girls age 3-10. The kids with the best story about how they became a zombie will win the crown and a spot in the Zombie Parade the next day. Enter your little Zombie in the pageant for $25.00. See entry info below.

On the morning of Saturday, October 12th, the festivities continue, with the Undead 5K at 7:00 a.m. Next up, the annual Old Fashioned Day begins at 9:00 a.m. with dozens of vendor booths of all sorts, covering the Saline County Courthouse lawn. This event will run throughout the day with live music, arts, crafts, food trucks, dance studio performances, bounce houses and more. Vendor space is $50.00. See vendor info at the end of this article.

At 3:00 p.m., there will be a makeup booth to get that stylish zombie look done for free by local makeup artists. Then at 4:30 p.m., get in line for the Zombie Parade at the Vote Here Center at 221 N. Main Street. It’s open to the public of all ages to watch or participate.

Look for the annual Coffin Races directly after the parade. Organizers are looking for teams to construct and decorate their coffin for speed and style points. Feel free to promote your business, organization or even a political candidate. Judges will decide who gets an award for the coffin that looks the best, and then the races will begin to see whose is the fastest. Each team will get to run their coffin twice in a one-block drag strip (aka, from Main & Sevier Streets to Main & Conway Streets) against a competitor to narrow it down to four teams in the finals. There will be awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes. The entry fee is $35.00. See more info below for entry and rules.

After that excitement, get ready for the Zombie Street Dance to cap it all off, with popular party band Just Sayin’.

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SCHEDULE

  • Fri 7:00 p.m., Royal Theatre – Little Man and Little Miss Zombie Pageant
  • Sat 7:00 a.m., Location TBA – Undead 5K
  • Sat 9:00 a.m., Saline County Courthouse – Old Fashioned Days runs until 4:00 p.m.
  • Sat 3:00 p.m, Saline County Courthouse – Zombie makeup booth opens
  • Sat 4:30 p.m., Vote Here Building – Zombie Parade begins
  • Sat 5 p.m.-ish, Sevier & Main – Coffin Races begin
  • Sat 7 p.m.-ish, Sevier & Main – Zombie Street Dance

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

To get info or to participate in events, visit www.bentonar.org/entry-forms-and-registrations. For vendor and food truck spaces or sponsorship info, contact Tina Coston at [email protected] or 501-776-5905.

For info on becoming a vendor in the Old Fashioned Day event, contact Cheryl Farmer at [email protected] or 501-590-6192.

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