Across the country, people will spend Halloween night handing out candy, dressing up and settling in for a horror movie marathon. This year, though, Halloween falls on a Saturday, which means there is plenty of time to get out and make the day a little more interesting. In Davis, California, that means getting on a bike and joining a zombie takeover.
The eighth annual Zombie Bike Parade Halloweekend Festival is rolling into Davis on Saturday, Oct. 31, bringing costumed cyclists, live entertainment and plenty of undead weirdness to Northern California. The free, all-ages event takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Community Park, giving families and horror fans a chance to celebrate Halloween somewhere other than the couch.
The main attraction is exactly what the name promises: a massive parade of zombie themed riders taking over the streets of Davis. Once the bikes reach Community Park, the Halloween celebration continues with more than 35 entertainment stations spread throughout the festival grounds.
The day is scheduled to end with a little aerial chaos, too. A zombie skydiving finale is planned for 2:30 p.m., weather permitting, because apparently a zombie bike invasion wasn’t quite strange enough on its own.
Davis has long been known for its bicycle culture, making it a fitting location for an event that combines two things that normally would not seem to belong together: bicycles and the undead. Costumes are encouraged, although you do not need a bike to attend the festival at Community Park.
There is also a much bigger reason behind the annual zombie invasion.
The festival benefits NorCal Trykers, an organization that builds custom adaptive trikes for children with disabilities. Since 2019, organizers say the Zombie Bike Parade has contributed more than $50,000 toward the creation of 42 adaptive trikes.
That gives all of the Halloween chaos a pretty great purpose. What looks like hundreds of zombies taking over Davis is also helping children get access to bikes specifically designed around their needs.
With Halloween landing on a Saturday this year, the Zombie Bike Parade offers a different way to spend Oct. 31. You can still watch your favorite horror movies later, raid the candy bowl and enjoy the usual Halloween traditions. First, you might want to grab a costume, find a bicycle and join the undead as they take over Northern California.
Zombie Bike Parade Halloweekend Festival
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Community Park
Davis, California
Free and open to all ages