Liverpool will be besieged by hundreds of zombies who will invade the city centre as part of an elaborate survival game, with the aim of making it across the city to a ‘Zombie Disco.’
The city will be bursting at its seams with new music talent and live shows during the highly anticipated Sound City festival, but behind the music shows a secret war against the living dead will be fought.
Aptly titled 2.8 Hours Later, after the cult hit zombie films, the interactive game has already wreaked havoc across the UK in numerous cities and is set to take an even bigger bite out of Scousers.
2.8 Hours Later is the brainchild of Slingshot, a Bristol-based street game company, and they will organise hundreds of ‘players’ attempting to outwit bloodthirsty hordes to reach a designated safe place and ultimately a Zombie Disco.
From a series of secret inner city locations, survivors will have to use their wits and physical ability in order to decipher clues and make it to the Survivors Camp. In the unfortunate event you are turned into a zombie, you will enjoy a full zombie makeover and get a fast pass to the final party.
Slingshot director Simon Evans, who has been co-ordinating street games and theatre for more than four years, said the creation of the event began as more than a desire to make accessible theatre for the masses and that some inspiration came from David Cameron and the street riots.
He said: “We were looking at a global recession and then David Cameron got elected and we were pretty depressed – it felt like everything was going to collapse.
“We had all that craziness and the riots and we thought how do you model that? The zombie theme was perfect because everyone knows the rules with zombies.
“You can do quite elaborate things and people understand – zombies solved the problem.”
The event takes place over three consecutive days, which will bring together people from all walks of life.
This is something that Evans enjoys most, he added: ‘’That’s the great thing about the genre. You get chartered accountants playing with crane drivers, it brings together black and white, old and young in way that has really surprised us.’’
Previews begin Wednesday 16 and continue until 19 May. If you are able to face both the undead and live music on offer throughout the weekend, joint event tickets with Sound City are available from the official 2.8 Hours Later website.