1st Annual Lebowski Fest
Louisville, KY / Fellowship Lanes
October 12th, 2002
The 1st Annual Lebowski Fest (Officially titled the "1st Annual Big Lebowski What-Have-You Fest" if you're not into the whole brevity thing) was held on October 12th, 2002 at Fellowship Lanes in Louisville, Kentucky.
Fellowship Lanes is a Baptist run bowling alley which didn't allow drinking or cussing. Our inaugural year was a bit tame but still a lot of fun. 150 people showed up from as far as Tucson, AZ and Buffalo, NY.
Will's Recap of the 1st Annual Lebowski Fest
Here is what happened at the 1st Annual Big Lebowski What-Have-You Fest.
150 people were in attendance at the 1st Annual Big Lebowski What-Have-You Fest, some as young as 15 and some closer to 50. Two guys traveled from Tuscon, AZ just to bowl at the Lebowski Fest. A group of kids skipped class on Friday, drove from Buffalo, NY, got towed on Friday night in Ohio and still made it to the event on Saturday! A father and son drove from Oxford, OH dressed as "The Stranger" and "Walter" and little brother and big brother came from Indianapolis dressed as "The Jesus" and "Jackie Treehorn". Others traveled from Columbus, OH, Bloomington and Muncie, IN.
It was a family affair in more than one way. The Fellowship Lanes is a Baptist establishment which meant two things: No Cussing and No Drinking. Yes, there was actually a big sign when you walked in with the words "NO CUSSING" scrolled ominously by the door. The irony was irresistible since the movie mentions the "F*** word" and its variations 267 times! We were not allowed to play the music we compiled for the event with 15 second audio clips from the movie between tracks because there wasn't one clean one! Almost no one had an issue with the 'no beverage' policy but the 2nd annual will be at a place where the 'White Russians' can flow freely. The bowling alley was in a rather seedy area of town wedged between a trailer park and the most strip clubs per square mile in town - including the 'The Foxy Lady', 'White Collar Lounge', 'Thoroughbreds', and everyone's favorite 'The Classy Lady!' It was nothing but good clean fun inside the Fellowship lanes. Seriously, it was just really fun!
The first round of trivia was impressive with over 30 people getting all 10 questions correct. We drew 10 round 2 finalists from the 30+ round 1 winners and came up with quite the trivia crew. Everyone was taken into the banquet room and given 10 more written questions placed face down with their number 2 pencils. You could cut the intensity with a knife as the contestants reached deep within their Lebowski memories to come up with the color of nail polish Bunny Lebowski wore.
Bill Green was busy running around with his mini-DV camera working on his '1st Annual Big Lebowski What-Have-You Fest' documentary. He interviewed Scott and I, the guys from Tuscon, the crew from Buffalo, Mike from BowlAcrossAmerica.com, various attendees, and got some great Coen Brothers inspired shots of bowling and What-Have-You.
The costume contest was won by 15 year old 'Jesus' with his glued-on goatee which he enthusiastically kept pressing back on his face all night! Jesus rules! Second place was taken by some very spirited Nihilists with their jam box blaring some German Techno (Autobahn?). They had a lot of spirit for a group that believes in "Nossing". Third place was taken by the Stranger who brought his son (Walter) and had "the whole cowboy thing going on." Everyone who dressed up was awesome. There was a definite absence of 'the Dude' in the costume contest but the spirit of the Dude was alive and well throughout the night and seemed to be a little part of everything there.
As you can imagine, "Over the line!" was bellowed several times during the evening as well as "Mark it 8, Dude." Probably my personal favorite part of the evening was when we were closing and it was Scott, myself, Flobie, the guys from Tuscon, the crew from Buffalo, and Mike from Bowling Road Trip hanging out and trading lines from the movie. It may not sound that interesting, but there was an intangible magic about it. Kinda had to be there I guess.
Furthest Traveled trophy went to the guys from Tuscon, and the crew from Buffalo won the engraved 'Dude' bowling ball and bag. Highest bowling score was 175. These were not necessarily seasoned bowlers. There was a greater purpose for the evening. With four hours of unlimited bowling, everyone got plenty of practice!
All prizes were various vintage bowling trophies with "Big Lebowski What-Have-You Fest, 1st Place **** 2002" engraved on them. Special thanks to the Nitty Gritty and Bombshells Clothing for donating the vintage bowling trophies.
So now it's time to look ahead to the '2nd annual What-Have-You fest.' We will have a bigger bowling alley and one that allows not only drinking, but cussing as well! Hopefully by next year Mike from Bowling Road Trip will have hit all the bowling alleys in the country and can recommend one. We are considering a bowling alley in Louisville that is adjacent to a drive-in movie establishment. We would love to have the bowling from 8-12 and then have a midnight showing of the film at the drive-in! We would also like to get a celebrity from the movie to come down. There are some rumors that John Turturro a.k.a. 'the Jesus' visits Louisville from time to time and is somehow affiliated with Actors Theater of Louisville. We shall see...
Thanks again to everyone who braved 7th Street Road to be a part of Lebowski history! Please email us and let us know your thoughts or any suggestions for the 2nd annual What-Have-You Fest. This has been an absolute blast from conceiving the idea in July through the actual event last night.
The Leo Review (first press coverage)
City Strobe X-tra: Dude, stay out of the gutter
by Caleb O. Brown
LEO
October 16, 2002
“The Dude is not in.” . But try telling that to the faithful gathered at Fellowship Lanes Saturday night.
A hardcore group of fans of “The Big Lebowski” gathered at the South Louisville bowling alley to celebrate the Coen Brothers’ film of four years ago. The “First Annual Big Lebowski What Have You Fest,” held at Fellowship Lanes, celebrated the lines, characters, drinks and bowling that permeated the movie.
The film details the exploits of Jeff Bridges as “The Dude,” an unemployed stoner and avid bowler who gets wrapped up in a kidnapping plot gone awry. The cast includes several standard Coen Brothers actors, such as John Turturro, Steve Buscemi and John Goodman.
The relaxed event in Louisville was simple in its organization and, according to several participants, flawlessly executed.
Organizers Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt weren’t sure how many might show up. Shuffitt says they aimed to “break even” on money spent for T-shirts and bowling trophies for the winners of the trivia and costume contests and, of course, the bowling competition. All were awarded bowling trophies.
“Even on the night of the event, I thought it possible that as few as 35 people would show up,” Shuffitt said.
Boy, was he off; 150 people made the trip to Fellowship Lanes at 2750 Seventh Street Road, and almost all of them took advantage of the unlimited bowling that came with the price of admission.
Russell was shocked to discover that some fans of the film came from Tucson, Ariz., and Buffalo, N. Y. after reading about the event on their Web site (www.msc502.com/dude/). Awards were given for “furthest distance” traveled — the Tucson crew won that easily — but the fans from Buffalo won a special award based on hardship.
“The kids from Buffalo skipped school on Friday, got their car towed and still made it,” said Russell. As a result, they went home with a bowling ball engraved with the words “The Dude.”
The event even drew Mike Walsh, a Chicago resident who has attracted media attention in his quest to bowl in all 50 states. He is also the subject of bowlingroadtrip.com, which is currently chronicling his adventures across the United States.
“I was supposed to be bowling with some funeral directors in South Jersey,” Walsh said, “but someone e-mailed me about this party, and I changed by route for it.”
According to the organizers, the only drawback to the impressive response to the Louisville tribute to “The Big Lebowski” may have been prohibitions on cursing and drinking at the Fellowship Lanes, a family-oriented establishment.
“It’s hard to play a soundtrack from a film that contains the F-word 267 times,” Russell noted.
So, what are the prospects for the “Second Annual Big Lebowski What Have You Fest?”
Said Russell: “A bigger bowling alley that allows cursing and drinking."