Be a Zombie for Charity at Sugar Beet Festival

The Sugar Beet Festival is just around the corner, and organizers still need more walking corpses.

That’s what the co-chair of the Los Alamitos event says offhandedly during an interview.

“We’re looking for zombies,” said Diana Hill, a local businesswoman and school board member.

The brainchild of Hill and local historian Larry Strawther, the July 13 festival aims to raise money for local nonprofits, celebrate local history and highlight nearby businesses, restaurants and community groups.

Right now, Hill said, the event they’re trying to promote the most – because it will mostly likely draw the highest number of attendees – is the Sugartown Challenge, a “5k-ish” obstacle run through Los Alamitos, where the zombies are just one of the trials.

“The challenge run is really supposed to be something to get out with the community and just have fun and laugh and giggle and do as much as you want to do,” Hill said. “You can just walk along and giggle at it if you want.”

To see a map of the proposed course route, click here. 

Participants will take on the inflatable slides, hills made of haystacks, towers of tires and, of course, Walking Dead Way where zombies jump out, scare and chase runners.

It costs $35 to be a zombie ($40 starting Monday) and $20 of that will go to the non-profit of your choice.

That’s right.  The festival’s giving people the chance to be a zombie for charity.

“At this time, you would (need to) come as your own zombie,” said Hill on the event website. “We are working with theater groups to provide make-up for $5.00, but that has not been confirmed.”

Tickets to be a live human – ahem, a runner on the course – are $40 right now, and will jump to $45 on Monday. Twenty dollars of every ticket sale will go to the charity of the runner’s choice as long as the charity has signed up with the organizers.  

Organizers say they're hoping for 2,000 participants in the obstacle course. Click here for ticket information.

Zombies aren’t exactly the first – or even the 37th – thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Sugar Beets, but, Hill said, the undead are popular right now. And that popularity, she adds, can be a great way to draw attention to an event that helps local charities and promotes the community.

Of course, event organizers don’t just want zombies. They want volunteers, too: people to help carry supplies, man the water tables, pick up trash and oversee parts of the obstacle course

To become a volunteer, you can call Hill at 562-598-8350.

Organizers hope about 10,000 people will attend the festival from nearby communities such as Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Rossmoor, Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Anaheim.

According to Strawther, who wrote a book detailing the history of Los Alamitos and Rossmoor, Los Al was born a factory town with acres of sugar beets and a large beet factory complex begun in 1896. Beets were used to make refined sugar, and back then, like now, there was big money in it.

Organizers plan to model the festival on the Gilroy Garlic Festival and the Garden Grove and the Oxnard Strawberry Festivals, and, more locally, the Taste of Los Alamitos.

Event admission is free and will take place on Reagan, Pine and Florista Streets — just west of Los Alamitos Boulevard and just north of Katella Avenue

The event, located near Pine and Florista, will feature a number of activities, including

• Food and beverages from local restaurants and food trucks

• Historical exhibits

• Live entertainment

• Themed mini-expos for local health, education, sports, business and military organizations.

• Competitions in which local nonprofits can win money.

The event's major sponsor is Southland Credit Union.

For more information visit www.sugarbeetfestival.com or its Facebook page.

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