The annual zombie march in Durango has become less about zombies and marching and more about whatever costumes people feel like wearing as they mill about the street.
For the eighth year in a row, hundreds of Halloween revelers took to Main Avenue late Monday for the zombie march, an unsanctioned event in which people march up and down Main Avenue, yelling “Whose streets? Our streets.”
Or at least that’s what used to happen.
Now, people stand around for about an hour before police politely ask them to return to the sidewalk.
Police didn’t have a crowd-size estimate, but Sgt. Jacob Dunlop said it was “pretty consistent with the past couple of years – not as big as it was five years ago or so, but still more than we initially anticipated for a Monday night.”
Police made no arrests directly related to the zombie march, but they are investigating a fight in which a man suffered a gash to his head about 1 a.m. Tuesday in the 700 block of Main Avenue.
Police received conflicting stories about what may have led to the altercation, and no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon.
The man was treated at Mercy Regional Medical Center and released.
Along with a noticeable lack of zombies, a clearance sale on banana costumes at Walmart apparently had the ill effect of a near overdose of fruit garb at this year’s march.
“I’m not just a banana!” yelled one woman who attached a hammock to her banana costume. “I’m a banana hammock.”
Another passer-by, also dressed as a banana, refused to give his name, only offering the following words: “Potassium!” and “Monkey!”
Dakota Myers, dressed as a 1970s disco fiend with an Afro wig, offered the following response when asked the meaning of Durango’s Zombie March:
“To celebrate life,” he said, not missing a step while dancing to the Bee Gees hit “Stayin’ Alive.”
“And have a great time.”
Even though it is an unsanctioned event, police allow residents to occupy the street for about an hour. They beef up patrols to monitor behavior, try to minimize damage to private property and quell any fights.
“When it appears that people have had their fun, and let it play out, then we move into the streets,” Dunlop said. “We try to take the stance that people are out there to kind of have fun, and once they’ve had a little bit of fun, we ask them to move back to the sidewalk so vehicles can start driving on Main Avenue again.”
The streets were mostly clear by 1 a.m., Dunlop said.
Ninety percent of people return to the sidewalks when police ask, he said, but a few are more resistant.
He was unaware of any reports of property damage related to Monday’s march.
There was a lot of glass on the road from people who brought their own alcohol containers and smashed them on the ground.
Anyone with information about the man who suffered a cut to his head is asked to call detective Chris Thomson at 375-4732.
