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Zombies Thrilled the World From Portsmouth

Thrill the World took place at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on Saturday 29th October.

All perceptions of the man himself aside, many forget that Michael Jackson gave a lot of his vast fortune to charity - something that organiser of Thrill The World Portsmouth, Grace Levy, is sure to drum home with the event.

Held on Saturday 29^th, Thrill The World is a world-wide event with 250 countries involved. At 3pm (GMT), all over the world people dance to the 1984 hit ‘Thriller', preferably dressed up as zombies similar to the classic music video. This event is for charity, and Portsmouth's first Thrill The World event was raising money and awareness for Headway Portsmouth and SE Hants, a charity which helps local people who have suffered serious head and brain injuries. 

With a modest dance group of 56 people and an audience that was not a lot larger, the event may not have been particularly big but it was a great experience. Grace Levy dressed as Michael Jackson himself, with the unmistakeable red outfit. Her make-up was incredible too, and she did a wonderful job of leading the rest of the group. There were a variety of ages present in the dancing group, from very young children, to those in their mid-20's. A lot of the dancers made a great effort, having learnt the dance, and really looked the part. The undead ranged from zombie school girls, to belly dancers - with a zombie nurse in between. There were even some zombie twins, who were no older than 5 years kitted out with matching fake blood splattered t shirts, messed up curly black hair, and adorable little Converse shoes.

Thrill The World was a fantastic half term event, and we were blessed with some fairly decent weather. The performance itself was a demonstration of the passion that the organiser and participants had for the cause (and the singer!), and was great fun for the youngest dancers who were able to learn a dance that many of us will never forget.

If Thrill The World returns to Portsmouth next year, it'd be great to see more people there. Grace did a wonderful job of organising this year's event, and managed to raise just over £300. Next year the event needs to be more widespread across Portsmouth and the surrounding area to make more of a difference and become more of a spectacle. With Brighton's Zombie Walk having occurred recently, it'd be great if Portsmouth could do a similar event to raise awareness of Thrill The World.

For more information about the event, visit www.thrilltheworldportsmouth.co.uk

By Catherine Fyson

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