Get ready for a new Halloween festival in Houston



less Darren Tompkins and Lady Cocchia, founders of the Houston Zombie Walk, have announced October 19 for the date of the debut of the Houston Halloween Festival and Horrorcon. The all-day, family-friendly event will feature musical acts, a zombie walk, a haunted maze, a costume fashion show, a pumpkin patch, makeup effects artists, over 100 vendors, plus horror movie celebs making appearances. Darren Tompkins and Lady Cocchia, founders of the Houston Zombie Walk, have announced October 19 for the date of the debut of the Houston Halloween Festival and Horrorcon. The all-day, family-friendly event ... more Photo: Bill Hunt, Bill Hunt Photograghy Photo: Bill Hunt, Bill Hunt Photograghy Image 1 of / 114 Caption Close Get ready for a new Halloween festival in Houston 1 / 114 Back to Gallery

The people behind one of Houston's most unique Halloween celebrations has announced plans for a larger, spookier one-day festival to be held at Minute Maid Park.

Houston Zombie Walk organizers Darren Tompkins and Lady Cocchia have announced October 19 for the date of the debut of the Houston Halloween Festival and Horrorcon. The all-day, family-friendly event will feature musical acts, a zombie walk, a haunted maze, a costume fashion show, a pumpkin patch, makeup effects artists, over 100 vendors, plus horror movie celebs making appearances.

The festival builds upon the success of the annual Houston Zombie Walk, which sees Houstonians of all ages trudging through Downtown Houston in bloody, brain-hungry garb. There will of course still be a zombie walk component to the festival, albeit a few thousand more strong than usual. The walks are always monitored by police to keep everyone thirsting for brains safe.

The festival will be partly held on the field of Minute Maid Park, according to Tompkins. The organizers looked at other venues before landing on MMP but nothing quite fit.

The headlining musical guest will be '90s favorite Vanilla Ice, with Green Jelly, ThunderPants, Otenki, Dimtris Rail, and Brumes as supporting acts. There will be a stage on the Minute Maid Park field.

"With the crowd we are expecting, a little over 6,000 people, the baseball park was the best option," says Tompkins. "We're expecting a lot of zombies."

Tickets are $25 for ages 10 and up, and admission is free for everyone under 10. VIP tickets are $150 and come with plenty of perks and behind-the-scenes experiences, according to Tompkins.

The Houston Zombie Walk team's last big event was The Walking Dead Escape experience at NRG Stadium, which saw zombies and zombie hunters running through the concourses and onto the floor of the stadium. The team acted as local support for the national tour.

Not many people know that the Houston Zombie Walk is a charity group that benefits children's and animal charities, with major benefactors including the Houston Humane Society and Houston Children's Charity. Their events spread out over the calendar year -- not just the Halloween season -- benefit the Houston community.