There has been a zombie outbreak in Newquay and the town is calling out for people of all ages to help to find the cure, chase the Zombies out and restore the resort back to normal before the October Half Term finishes!

Zombies are taking up residence in businesses across the Newquay town centre, and Love Newquay, Visit Newquay and town officials are inviting families to come to the resort, search for them and win treats and ghoulishly good time this Half Term week and Halloween weekend.

Lots of creative businesses are getting spooktacular in their planned executions of fun things for families on a mission to help.  

Werepups, kids under 18, and Werewolf surfers can join NQY Surf School and Great Western in celebrating the end of an epic season with a fun and friendly Halloween surfing competition on Saturday,  October 21.

The competition will be jam-packed with cool prizes, festive games, fancy dress, face and surfboard painting, hot drinks and a whole lot more.

 Mix NQY, a food, drink and lifestyle bar and cafe in the centre of Newquay has collaborated with Party Play Cornwall to hunt washed-up skeletons and other scaries along the Newquay shoreline on Thursday, October 26. 

Brave kids from the age of one upwards will take to the beach with a map to help them find where the skeletons are hiding, and to participate in the discovery of a mysterious treasure chest. 

Back at Mix they’ll be treated with a spooktacular cookie decorating and hot chocolates.

And at Newquay Zoo, people of all ages can hunt out the zoo’s creepiest creatures, learning fascinating facts and exploring the clever behaviours they’ve developed to avoid predators and capture prey along the way.

A special Spooky Tea and Tales event, taking place between 3pm and 4:30pm on both Tuesday, October 24 and Thursday, October 26 will treat little people to a selection of spooky animal tales from Newquay’s Rangers. 

Throughout the week, Visit Newquay will be encouraging people to help find and run our Zombies all over town with a free Halloween Zombie Trail. Newquay Tourist Information Centre has the free clue sheets and following the trail bring letters to complete and win. 

From the Wednesday until the Sunday, October 29, the Trenance area of the town, which includes Newquay Zoo, Newquay Leisure World and the Trenance Heritage Cottages and Trenance Garden Café will also be running their own Halloween trail for all the family, alongside a Halloween-themed events programme.

The Headland Hotel, a grand-yet-imposing Victorian building that looks proudly over the north Cornish coast, returns to its former situation as the home of ‘The Witches.’ 

The hotel became the location for the 1990 film adaptation of the classic novel written in 1983 by children’s author Roald Dahl. For the Spooky Newquay week, terrifying treats are on the menu as the iconic five-star hotel introduces the Wickedly Witchy Afternoon Brew, running from October 1 until October 31 in the stunning RenMor restaurant. 

If you’re there at the right (or maybe the wrong) time, the Wicked Witch will come wandering through the restaurant! Chocolate mice, pumpkin cheesecake, treacle tart, blackberry and apple trifle, plus scones with clotted cream and jam (of course!) and some delicious seasonal sandwiches will be on the stands. 

Elsewhere in the Cornish resort Zombie Pirates are ready to abound and only the bravest buccaneers need apply for one of Cornwall’s most unique terrifying Halloween set of ‘Fright Nights.'

 At Pirate’s Quest, horror fans are in for a treat as they take on an adventure mini golf course in the dark of night! Those brave enough grab a glow in the dark golf ball and descend into the daunting depths of Davy Jones’ Locker, a creepy graveyard of lost ships and souls that serves as a final resting place for history’s most dastardly seafarers! 

Across the resort, Newquay businesses will also be getting involved by ‘spookifying their shop fronts, their teams, their wares and their products. ‘The scarier the better’ is the only criteria in decorating windows, stores, and people, and the best-dressed storefronts will win themselves a prize. 

Then the grand freak-all finale will be what’s thought to be the South West’s only Zombie Crawl. On Saturday, October 28, thrill-seekers can expect the streets of the coastal location to be transformed into an otherworldly spooktacular experience as hundreds of participants flood into the town to witness the most frightening but fun event of the year.

The 2023 Spooky Newquay Zombie Crawl experience will begin with multiple rolling workshops for families to enjoy. Happening throughout the town from 10am, these include freaky face painting for all the family, Zombie outfit making sessions, pop-up scary moooves dance classes, scary storytelling, wound making workshops and ongoing entertainment in preparation for the creepy Crawl. 

All of these sessions are free-of-charge for everyone to attend and will be situated in businesses and locations right throughout the town. 

Mid afternoon, thousands of affected Zombies, including lifeguards, pirates and pop stars, will gather to join the horror show, working their way through the wicked wasteland of Newquay’s main street.

As with the previous instalments of the Zombie Crawl, this year’s trail will end at a number of establishments where after parties of ‘Spooky Discos’ will kick off. 

Crawlers should gather in the coned off area in the Sainsbury’s car park from 2.30pm onwards. All children must have adult supervision and all will be accompanied by Zombie Pirates on stilts and a blistering, ghoulish soundtrack through town as the crowds gather to experience the spooktacular visions. 

Love Newquay + Newquay BID Manager Mark Warren, who last year transformed into a Zombie-infected version of late pop star Prince, said: “Across the nation there are more and more crazy Halloween fans and the passion for this whole experience is rising. 

“We’re in this creative emergency position with hundreds of Zombies appearing out of nowhere and lots of our best Newquay businesses are getting involved to help run them out of town, whilst ensuring visitors and residents alike have a crazy fun time.

 “Last year we had families who travelled from the far North coast of Wales and lots who came down from the Midlands and the South East to help with this mission. 

“And now, families can also fly in from a whole range of places with the year-round flight availability via Cornwall Airport. Throughout the Spooky Newquay week, there’s so many extra options for families across a number of our local businesses. 

“And then the epic Zombie Crawl is just one big eye-popping explosion of ghoulish energy and fun that anyone can take part in. 

“We can’t wait to welcome visitors and locals alike for this super-sized spooky extravaganza, which brings the whole business and local community together at this point of the year.”