Thursday Night Live ends season with a 'Thriller' of a night

Dozens of Jefferson City residents dressed as zombies performed the
thriller during a previous Zombies Night Live event on High Street.
Dozens of Jefferson City residents dressed as zombies performed the thriller during a previous Zombies Night Live event on High Street.

Jefferson City's Thursday Night Live will finish the year with a bang - or maybe a brain - when the living and the dead converge on downtown Thursday at Zombie Night Live.

Most Thursday Night Live events each year are geared toward adults, but organizers said the Zombie Night Live event is for families of all ages.

Event planner Jill Snodgrass said people of all ages are encouraged to come dressed as zombies to the concert, which will run 6-9 p.m.

"Any costume can be made up as a zombie," Snodgrass said.

For people who choose not to come dressed as a zombie, volunteers from Walmart will be on hand to paint faces. Between bands around 6:45 p.m., McRaven Ballroom owner Larinda McRaven will direct a flash mob of zombies to Michael Jackson's 1982 hit song "Thriller."

A photo op for all zombies in attendance will happen just after the flash mob finishes around 6:50 p.m.

Columbia rock band Richard Parker will kick off the live music at 6 p.m with its mix of original, high-energy rock songs and covers. Pop-rock cover band Contagious headlines the night and will start around 7 p.m.

The Jefferson City Police Department asks attendees not to bring weaponized accessories to the event.

The Jefferson City Cultural Arts Commission also partnered with the city to put on Zombie Night Live.

Guests older than 21 may buy a wrist band for alcohol purchases. Attendees younger than 16 should be accompanied by parents and guardians at all times.

Zombie Night Live started about four years ago because the city wanted to extend Thursday Night Live farther into the fall, Snodgrass said. The festive Halloween atmosphere makes it, along with summer's beach party, one of two events each year geared toward families.

"Thursday Night Lives are definitely an adult event," Snodgrass said. "We want (at Zombie Night Live) families to feel that they can bring their kids and not see anything unseemly.

"Zombies are for everyone."