The Zombie Bike Parade

Everyone is welcome at Community Park for the festival: on foot, on any wheels, in a wheelchair or powerchair, or pushing a stroller. The official bike parade is different. It rides just under five miles at a regular biking pace, so it is for bicycles (including e-bikes, cargo bikes, tandems and bike trailers) and only for riders who can keep that pace for the whole route. Helmets are required under 18 and strongly encouraged for everyone. If the parade is not the right fit, stay at Community Park: the shows, the entertainment stations and the 2:30 p.m. skydiving finale all happen there.

This is the event the whole festival is named for: a led parade of costumed bikes riding from Community Park to Mace Ranch Park and back, under 5 miles round trip. It started in 2019 as a fixed 2.5-mile route through UC Davis and downtown, spent four pandemic-era years as an open 12-mile loop around the Davis Bike Loop, and returned to a led parade format in 2024.

The only real rules: look zombie-like (some makeup or a mask that reads as risen from the dead), stay on your bike from start to finish, and say "brains" at both ends.

Who makes it happen

Volunteers from The Bike Campaign and Davis Bike Club serve as ride leaders, guides and crossing guards the whole way, work the festival's own materials describe simply as "without them, the parade wouldn't move." A halfway stop at Mace Ranch Park usually features the BMX stunt show, Explorit science demos and Woodstock's cinnabread.

Tips

• Test your costume on your bike beforehand; loose fabric can catch in pedals and chains.
• Community Park is the better choice if you would rather skip the ride and enjoy the festival from one spot.