Festival marking more than 60 years of The Zombies, with live music, Q&As with original members, masterclasses and community projects across St Albans.
The Zombies Begin Here Festival returns to St Albans from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, with the St Albans Museum + Gallery acting as one of the main hubs. It's a weekend built around The Zombies, the band that formed right here in the city back in 1961 at The Blacksmiths Arms and went on to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The original members — Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Hugh Grundy and Chris White — all grew up at St Albans School, and the festival follows them back to the local haunts that shaped them.
That means the programme is spread across the city rather than kept in one room. You'll find things happening at the Museum + Gallery (Assembly Room), St Albans Cathedral, The Horn, The Pioneer Club, The Blacksmiths Arms, and the Collective Gallery & Art Project Space at 18 Holywell Hill. There are also nods to The Boot and Verulamium Park — the latter was the setting for Blunstone's album The Ghost Of You And Me — and the Cathedral, where Argent once sang in the boys' choir. It's a bigger outing than the 2023 and 2024 editions, with more live music, signing sessions, masterclasses and community projects marking more than 60 years of the band's work.
The main draw is the original members themselves. On Saturday 31 October at 3:00 PM, there's a Q&A with original bassist Paul Arnold. Sunday 1 November brings the full original line-up back together for a panel Q&A with Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Hugh Grundy and Chris White at 3:00 PM, followed by Rod Argent's Affair with Keyboards at 4:30 PM. On Saturday night, Colin Blunstone and friends play a candlelight concert at St Albans Cathedral, and on Sunday morning, Søren Koch and friends host a Music Brunch at The Horn starting at 11:00 AM.
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Beyond the live sessions, the weekend draws on The Odyssey: The Zombies in Words and Images, the book published in 2023, and Hung Up On A Dream, the 2024 documentary directed by Robert Schwartzman. If you're planning to do the whole thing, keep in mind it runs across two days and multiple venues, so you'll be moving around the city rather than staying in one spot.
Date
30 October – 1 November
Recommended Age
+14 years
