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CITY HALL

Zombie Attack organizer: No money for cleanup

Phillip M. Bailey
Louisville Courier Journal

Mayor Greg Fischer’s office is warning organizers of the annual Louisville Zombie Attack to do a better job cleaning up after several Highlands neighborhood residents and business owners complained about a significant amount of garbage left along Bardstown Road after the weekend event.

“We think the zombie walk is a great event for our city, but the mess it leaves behind is a serious concern,” Fischer spokesman Chris Poynter said in an interview Monday.

Artist Lyndi Lou, the chief organizer of this year's event, said the city and volunteers have helped clean up along the street from Eastern Parkway to Highland Avenue in years past, but she said the volume of litter was higher than usual this time. She said Zombie Attack takes full responsibility for the headache residents and business owners were left to deal with.

"I wasn't expecting it to be this much this year," she said. "I had too much on my shoulders, and the plan for street cleaning wasn't what it needed to be."

The Zombie Attack is considered one of Louisville's most popular celebrations, drawing thousands who dress up and wear makeup pretending to be the undead. The 11th annual walk was this past Saturday, and it is estimated more than 30,000 people swarmed the Highlands to participate.

Those who came to work and live along Bardstown Road the next day, however, were greeted by a large amount of debris and trash on the street and sidewalks.

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Martin said Bardstown Road was a “wreck” and that the city ought to rethink allowing the zombie walk to use such a large swath of the thoroughfare next year.“It was a constant and steady stream of people,” said Carrie Martin, a manager at The Back Door, a bar in the neighborhood. “I came into work at 9 o’clock Sunday morning, and it was a nightmare. It looked like Central Avenue after (Kentucky) Derby.”

Fischer’s office touted the event on its Twitter account Saturday, but the office said it will be discussing ways to avoid a similar situation at next year’s event to “ensure that trash is picked up in a timely manner.” City crews dealt with the mess on Sunday, but many neighbors and business owners said they also had to do a fair share of cleaning up in front of their properties.

Fischer’s office has yet to determine how much the unexpected trash pickup will cost, but Poynter said the city will charge the organizers once the costs are calculated. But Lou said she isn't sure how organizers will be able to pay for that given they do not charge participants to join the zombie walk.

"I have no idea how we would pay for such a large fine," she said. "We don't make any money off of this, I make nothing off of it and we broke even this year, which was shocking."

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be contacted at (502) 574-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com.