Stomping on Thin Ice (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} chris_parasyte) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} calgarians,@ 2007-10-17 23:06:00 |
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It's true. The 2007 Calgary Zombie Walk is Officially Cancelled
Bad news, ghouls. No one's going to want to hear this, and I sure don't want to post it, but here it is. The 2007 Calgary Zombie Walk has been CANCELLED. Officially.
Before you start with the hate mail, here's the story. After last year's Zombie Walk drew 600 participants, I knew this year we'd have to do everything 'by the book' for the event. That means insurance, parade permits... in short, a lot of things I've never dealt with in organizing the Zombie Walk. I've been working with a couple of volunteers to get everything in order, and I thought we were good to go.
It turns out we're not. One department at The City (Parks and Recreation) gave us some bad information about the processing time for a parade permit... basically, we were told it could be processed in seven working days. As it turns out, though, parade permits are processed by the City Roads division and take up to 90 days to process. When we inquired last week on the status of our application, I was told it wouldn't be ready until the first week of December.
We inquired at Parks & Rec about this months ago. We had everything in order and submitted the paperwork (including the event insurance, which cost a pretty penny and is non-refundable) weeks ago, only to find out now from another department that it takes a lot longer for approval than we were first told. We're tied up in red tape and one City department not knowing what the other is doing. Your tax dollars at work!
So that left us with a few choices. We could postpone the Dead Mile until the permits are in place. But let's face it, no one wants to be outside in December in Calgary if they can avoid it.
We could stage the event anyway and face arrest or fines for doing so... as much as I love the Zombie Walk, I'm not exactly ready to go to jail for it.
Or... cancel the event, and plan to go again in the spring. Which is what we're doing. Details on that will be posted later.
So what about this Saturday? Well, we had worked out an arrangement with Screamfest to shuttle Dead Mile Zombie Walkers from the endpoint of the march to Canada Olympic Park, where anyone dressed in zombie costume would receive discounted admission for the night. That deal is still on! We'll still have $2 shuttle bus service running from Millenium Park to Screamfest as planned, and $5 off at the door for any undead who turn up that night.
Of course, that leaves you with the question of what to do for the afternoon, doesn't it? I mean, it gives you plenty of time to get in costume and maybe... I don't know... meet up with some of your undead friends at... some random spot and... go for a stroll. Or something....... it's up to you, really.
-Chris-
Bad news, ghouls. No one's going to want to hear this, and I sure don't want to post it, but here it is. The 2007 Calgary Zombie Walk has been CANCELLED. Officially.
Before you start with the hate mail, here's the story. After last year's Zombie Walk drew 600 participants, I knew this year we'd have to do everything 'by the book' for the event. That means insurance, parade permits... in short, a lot of things I've never dealt with in organizing the Zombie Walk. I've been working with a couple of volunteers to get everything in order, and I thought we were good to go.
It turns out we're not. One department at The City (Parks and Recreation) gave us some bad information about the processing time for a parade permit... basically, we were told it could be processed in seven working days. As it turns out, though, parade permits are processed by the City Roads division and take up to 90 days to process. When we inquired last week on the status of our application, I was told it wouldn't be ready until the first week of December.
We inquired at Parks & Rec about this months ago. We had everything in order and submitted the paperwork (including the event insurance, which cost a pretty penny and is non-refundable) weeks ago, only to find out now from another department that it takes a lot longer for approval than we were first told. We're tied up in red tape and one City department not knowing what the other is doing. Your tax dollars at work!
So that left us with a few choices. We could postpone the Dead Mile until the permits are in place. But let's face it, no one wants to be outside in December in Calgary if they can avoid it.
We could stage the event anyway and face arrest or fines for doing so... as much as I love the Zombie Walk, I'm not exactly ready to go to jail for it.
Or... cancel the event, and plan to go again in the spring. Which is what we're doing. Details on that will be posted later.
So what about this Saturday? Well, we had worked out an arrangement with Screamfest to shuttle Dead Mile Zombie Walkers from the endpoint of the march to Canada Olympic Park, where anyone dressed in zombie costume would receive discounted admission for the night. That deal is still on! We'll still have $2 shuttle bus service running from Millenium Park to Screamfest as planned, and $5 off at the door for any undead who turn up that night.
Of course, that leaves you with the question of what to do for the afternoon, doesn't it? I mean, it gives you plenty of time to get in costume and maybe... I don't know... meet up with some of your undead friends at... some random spot and... go for a stroll. Or something....... it's up to you, really.
-Chris-
