Wants to know

Is this the death of Zombicon?

Zombie fest attracted up to 30 thousand but is still in the red

By Mike Mason

CREATED Oct. 22, 2012

  • Print

  • Thousands of zombies turned out for the annual Zombicon in Downtown Fort Myers this weekend. This year may have set a new record for attendance but despite the success, promoters say this may be the last time they hold the festival in Fort Myers…an Video by fox4now.com

    video

 FORT MYERS - Thousands of zombies turned out for the annual Zombicon in Downtown Fort Myers this weekend. This year may have set a new record for attendance but despite the success, promoters say this may be the last time they hold the festival in Fort Myers…and now some people want to know why.  Four in your Corner's Mike Mason has more. 

 
Promoters say up to 30-thousand people showed up to this year's Zombicon and a lot of businesses made money....but they didn't exactly make a killing.
 
Thousands of zombies packing the streets of Downtown Fort Myers this weekend.....the walking dead had the time of their lives. But today it was business as usual...actually compared to last night....it was dead.
 
No trace of Zombicon except for a few blood stained streets, some graffiti and this broken window at the First National Bank building where someone accidentally fell into it.
 
Erin Tully: "Definitely at Zombicon you have to expect a little bit of craziness, people are - you know - bringing out their inner demons."
 
Overall, business owners are not complaining.....since many made a lot of money.
 
Brad Ruth: "It's huge for us, I mean it's a very big day and we look forward to it every year it's one of our busiest days so not having it would be horrible and we love having it."
 
Zombies also invaded Howl Tattoo Shop and Art Gallery.....they were dying to get some ink.
 
Erin Tully: "There were a couple of thousand outside and they all somehow made their way through here."
 
But not everyone made a killing off Zombicon. In fact, the promoters say they'll be lucky if they make a dime.
 
Christopher Fous: "We got no financial support to begin with and we have to pay for the cleanup we have to pay for the police and there was garbage everywhere so the cleanup wasn't done there was vandalism there were fights so police weren't stepping up."
 
This year the City of Fort Myers chose not to support the event....and since a killer party requires big bucks -- Zombicon is in the red.
 
Nicole Long: "That kept us from doing a lot of the things we wanted to do but you know we've got to make it work."
 
Promoters say if the City and local businesses don't start chipping in -- it will be the death of this zombi-fest in Fort Myers.
 
Rachel Telfor: "This is an enormous event that brings tens of thousands of dollars into Downtown Fort Myers and we deserve support."
 
Promoters suspect 30-thousand people attended Zombicon this year.....last year it was around 20-thousand. It was very profitable for some local businesses which made tens of thousands of dollars just this past weekend.