Downtown businesses are routinely seeking ways to bring more customers into the vicinity, and Lexington’s annual “Thriller” event attracts thousands of warm bodies downtown each Halloween season – as well as some that look a little past their expiration date.
What started as a casual joke between friends has become one of Lexington’s favorite annual pastimes, featuring thousands of local residents turned would-be zombies. Now in its 15th year, the event has been named a top 10 Halloween destination by USA Today and now includes a dance showcase and costume parade, along with its central celebration: the re-enactment of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, which first premiered on MTV in 1982. This year’s event, set for Oct. 29, will also include an inaugural day-long Wicked Wonders Market at Cheapside Park, with vendors showcasing spooky delights in a bazaar-style marketplace.
Lexington’s “Thriller” event has come a long way since co-founders Melissa McCartt-Smyth and Teresa Tomb first talked about a simple flash-mob style restaging of Jackson’s famous zombie-infused video 15 years ago.
“It came out of a conversation sitting around the studio,” said Tomb, who owns Mecca Live Studio in Lexington. “We thought it would be a fun idea to do ‘Thriller’ at Halloween as a street performance. Then we started looking into what it would take to actually pull it off, and we talked to the city about getting parade permits.”
The University of Kentucky’s college radio station WRFL, another partner, has broadcast the soundtrack on its airwaves in conjunction with the street dance since the first year. The station hosts Halloween-themed segments before and after the parade, with “Thriller” broadcast in the middle, powering the soundtrack for the parade of zombies.
“We always broadcast the music over the radio, so it’s public,” explained McCartt-Smyth. “Our choreography is similar to the video but it’s ours – it’s a very simplified version that anyone can do.”
The first year, McCartt-Smyth watched the video and learned the dance in order to break it down into parts to teach to others. “It was just sort of word of mouth, but we had about 50 people show up to learn the dance,” she said. They weren’t planning to have anyone play Jackson’s role, however a young man named Mica Isaacs came to a rehearsal and impressed them with his Jackson impersonation.
On the night of the first event, McCartt-Smyth and Tomb were astounded by the response from the public. “We didn’t advertise it or anything, but we did talk to the police, and we all pooled our money to pay for a blockade of the street – it was just a little private thing,” said McCartt-Smyth. “We found out thousands of people showed up, and we were totally amazed.”
“The next year rolled around and people started asking if we were going to do ‘Thriller’ again, so then we knew it wasn’t going to be a one-off,” said Tomb. Each year since the number of zombies has doubled, leveling off in the past few years to about 1,000-plus zombies participating. Even more spectators arrive downtown to watch and enjoy the festive atmosphere, and businesses are taking note.
“It’s huge, as far as its impact,” said Tomb. “A lot of businesses along the route or in the downtown area have embraced the event and have provided after-parties. There are a lot of people out and about downtown, so those businesses can really cater to the people.” Several businesses feature a “zombie lounge” with specials on food and drinks for zombie participants. Halloween Express also partners with the event, providing day-of zombie make-up tutorials and discounts.
The impact is not just economic. “Speaking socially, this is an event that asks for people’s involvement,” said Tomb. “It is open to anyone who wants to participate, so there are all these people who never would have known each other if it wasn’t for this, and now they have built these relationships. It’s a really nice community-building activity.”
Several years ago, McCartt-Smyth and Tomb partnered with Lexington Parks and Recreation to help create the infrastructure for the day-of events, greatly expanding the scope of the event into a full-blown festival atmosphere. The event now features a showcase earlier in the evening where dance schools from around the community are invited to create and share their own Halloween-themed dance at the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza. Taking place just prior to the “Thriller” re-enactment, a Halloween parade featuring participants dressed in every type of costume imaginable – ghosts, superheroes, witches and more – travels along Main Street, from Quality to Mill Street.
According to Tomb, organizers have restyled the event every year to accommodate changes.
“In the beginning, although it took place in the street, everyone on the sides in the audience would get so excited they would come into the street and dance behind ‘the Michael,’” she said. “It’s just so exciting that everyone wants to be a part of it.”
The event had an unexpected boost following Jackson’s death in 2009. That summer, the Downtown Lexington Corporation asked McCartt-Smyth and Tomb if they would perform the street dance at the Fifth Third Pavilion in memorial. Hundreds of zombies showed up to put on a short show in the middle of summer. “And of course that year at Halloween it was really popular,” said McCartt-Smyth.
Now that the event has grown so much, there are actually six dancers dressed as Michael Jackson, set up at intervals along Main Street so they can all begin the street dance at the same time. “Each Michael has his own pack of zombies designated to him,” said Tomb. “So that way we distribute everyone as evenly as possible along the route so that helps with the pacing.”
Although the event, which attracts an estimated 15,000-20,000 people downtown each year, has gained national attention, both McCartt-Smyth and Tomb continue to nurture plans to boost the community focus. Recent ideas for future events have included starting earlier in the day to incorporate other activities, such as pumpkin carving, and partnering with the Kentucky Blood Center to raise blood donations during the day leading up to the street performance.
“It’s a very inclusive, collaborative project, and that’s always been our focus: how to get different and varied businesses to work together to create something interesting,” said Tomb.
If you go: “Thriller” Parade & Downtown Festival
Oct. 29. More than 30 years after Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking video first aired, zombies and the non-dead still come together in downtown Lexington to celebrate Halloween with one of the world’s largest “Thriller” re-enactments. New this year, the festivities will expand to include an art show at the Fifth Third Cheapside Pavilion called Wicked Wonders Market, featuring arts and crafts in keeping with the spirit of the season (11 a.m.-8 p.m.). Evening festivities kick off with a dance showcase at the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza at 6 p.m., with the Halloween and “Thriller” parade starting at 8 p.m. Food trucks will be on site all day. Note: The “Thriller” dance is open to anyone who is willing to attend rehearsals and learn the choreography; for participation information and a rehearsal schedule, contact Mecca at (859) 254-9790 or meccadancestudio@gmail.com. Any individual or group that is interested in being a part of the parade should call (859) 288-2925. Rain date is Sunday, Oct. 30.
SOURCE: Smiley Pete
