News (Archives from September 2002 to Present)

Lebowski Fest LA Lineup - More information is coming to light including appearances by Jeff "The Dude" Dowd, Peter Exline (inspiration for Walter!), Lu Elrod (Waitress), Luis Colina (Corvette Owner), Jim Hoosier (Liam) special guest Edie McClurg and who knows who else?Details here.

LA Gear - The event shirt and poster are now available online.

LA Poster Art! Bill Green strikes again! Behold. Get the artwork for your desktop background here.

LA tickets on sale now! Last year's sold out in advance. Click here to buy your tickets.

We finally found our venues. Lebowski Fest LA (March 3rd and 4th, 2006) will be held at The Knitting Factory and 68-lane Cal Bowl! Tickets will go on sale in January. Check here for all the details.

Lebowski Fest West 2006 is official! We're heading to the City of Angels* on March 3rd and 4th, 2006. Venues, details and what-have-you coming oh so soon. Sign up for the mailing list for more information. *they call Los Angeles the City of Angels

Send as a gift! You can send any Lebowski Fest Goodies as a gift. Just sit back, sip your White Russian and when you check out just check "Send as a Gift," enter your gift message and it is done.

New Hoodies! We now have two hoodies to keep you warm- cuddle up with the maroon Valkyrie Hoodie or the classy black Nixon Bowling Hoodie. We also have a new sticker - Phone's ringin Dude.

Lebowski Fest New York was amazing! New York really stepped it up this year. Here are some pics.

You gotta date in New York this weekend! Advance tickets here or available at the door as long as it doesnt sell out. See you there!

Happy Birthday Lebowski Fest! It was 3 years ago that we first rented out the Fellowship Lanes. Check out the video tour of our humble beginnings.

Knitting Factory Schedule is posted!

Lebowski Fest makes Rolling Stone's Hot List for 2005!

To celebrate the upcoming release of the Special Edition DVD of The Big Lebowski we will be giving away copies of the Achiever's Gift Set in New York! More details here.

Achiever Onesies are here for the littlest Achiever in your world.

New York bands added: Corn Mo, Bling Kong, Hair Supply and Herbal Nation. Details here.

Lebowski Fest New York Tickets on sale now!

We're heading to New York this October! Lebowski Fest New York is set for October 21st and 22nd at The Knitting Factory and Cozy Bowl. Details here.

Thanks to all the Achievers for an extraordinary weekend. Pictures and what-have-you can be found here.

The Mayor of Louisville will be presenting Jeff Dowd with a key to the city at the Opening Ceremonies with They Might Be Giants on Friday. Tickets are still available at EarXtacy, WHYLouisville, TicketWeb or $20 at the gate!

The Garden Party at the Executive Lawn will be only $5 on Saturday with 6 bands, Burlesque Dancers, Giants Puppets and what-have-you. More info here.

You want a toe? The 4th Annual shirt is now available.

Tickets are on sale now and are going very fast! Don't get left outside with your marmot. Ticket details here.

Get your tickets 24 hours before they go on sale to the public! Sign up for the mailing list to get the special code.

The 4th Annual Event posters by Bill Green are in. Fabulous stuff Bill! Available here.

Lebowski Idol - Win a chance to perform after They Might Be Giants with a Karaoke song of your choice! Winner also gets tickets for the weekend! Details here.

Corn Mo has been added to the Opening Ceremonies with They Might Be Giants on July 22nd!

Garden Party on July 23rd will feature music by The Deathray Davies, The Merediths, The Pine Club and others TBA.

Lebowski Fest is proud to welcome, They Might Be Giants as the musical guests
for the 4th Annual Lebowski Fest opening ceremonies on July 22nd!

4th Annual Updates! Tickets on sale Saturday June 18th!

We may not have won first prize in the Great Bed Races, but we won the hearts and minds of the kids! Pics and video here.

A little someting for the ladies, the Achiever Tank Top printed on American Apparel Tanks!

One of the documentaries being made on Lebowski Fest now has a trailer. Check out the clip by Eddie Chung here.

Three new stickers have been added to the parlance of our times. "The Bums will always lose!" "I dig yer style, Dude." and "It don't matter to Jesus."

The Limited Edition Signed and Numbered poster by Bill Green is now available.

Lebowski Fest was featured on G4 TV's "Attack of the Show" and ESPN's "Cold Pizza" NPR and Air America Radio. Check out the press here.

LA was unbelievable! 8 actors from the film showed up including Jeff Bridges! Thanks to everyone who participated. Check out highlights and photos!

LA itinerary and trophy pics have been posted!

Jack Kehler (Marty the Landlord) will be appearing at the Knitting Factory pre-prarty! Hopefully he will perform his cycle and you can give him notes.

How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus? Peter Stormare (Uli the Nihilist / Karl Hungus) will be making an appearance at the pre-party @ The Knitting Factory with his band Blonde From Fargo! He has promised us a special surprise so get ready for a wild show! Details here.

Jeff Bridges shirt is in! The shirt designed by Jeff Bridges for End Hunger Network is available now and will be on sale at the events.

LA shirts and posters are in!

Appearances for LA announced! David Huddleston (The Big Lebowski, himself!), Jerry Haleva (Saddam), Lu Elrod (Family Restaurant Waitress), Jeff "The Dude Dowd, Jim Hoosier (Liam), Robin Jones (Ralphs' Checkout Girl), and possibly others! Details here.

Tickets for Lebowski Fest West - LA go on sale Feb 7th, 2005 at 3PM EST. Lebowski Fest tickets are notorious for selling out well in advance. Check back soon for prices, discounts, and what-have-you. All the latest info will be here.

The Dude Designs. His Dudeness himself, Jeff Bridges has designed a special shirt for Lebowski Fest West to help raise money for a charity he helped found called End Hunger Network! Far out!

Just when you thought it couldn't get anymore ridiculous, along come the Nixon Bowling Bobblehead. That's right, Bobblehead.

Achiever Hoodies are here! Now you can go out and achieve even if it's chilly outside in an Achiever Hoodie. Now available on a trial basis.

The November issue of Playboy Magazine has listed the term "Achiever" as the preferred nomenclature for Big Lebowski fans in their tip sheet, officially adding it to the world of slang. And proud we are of Playboy.

The Aggression/Vote shirt has been officially retired. Congrats to those who got one.

Happy Birthday Lebowski Fest! It's hard to believe that only two years ago, the "1st Annual Big Lebowski What-Have-You Fest" (or 1st "Lebowski Fest" if you're into the whole brevity thing) was held on October 12th, 2002. We didnt have a clue what we were in for! Check out the video clip of the venue.

Lebowski Fest West will be held in LA on March 25th and 26th, 2005! Lebowski Fest is headed way out West in 2005 to the home of The Big Lebowski - Los Angeles, CA! Details here.

New Bumper Stickers are in! You can take comfort in the fact that we've been listening to your requests and now have "The Dude Abides...", "Careful, Man there's a beverage here!" and "At least I'm Housebroken."

The date for the 4th Annual Lebowski Fest will be July 23rd, 2005 in Louisville, KY. We are working on putting together Lebowski Fest West in LA for the spring of 2005. Sign up for the maling list to find out when the date will be. We had a blast in NYC and even got to be on CNN of all things! Check out the clip here.

Lebowski Fest New York was amazing! Thanks to all the Achievers for one hell of a party! Check out the pictures.

New York Shirts and Aggression shirts are in!

This Aggression Will Not Stand, Man. Lebowski Fest is hooking up with voter registration companies in New York to register Achievers to vote in the upcoming election.

"I Bowl New York" Bumper Stickers are in!

Bands for The Knitting Factory are official: New York's own Bling Kong (3 Drummers, Cheerleading Squad, Video DJ), Philadelphia's The Trouble With Sweeney, Louisville's AM Sunday, SKL as "Autobahn", and Boston-based Medina Sod. Plus an appearance by The Squallis Pupeteers and Jeff "The Dude" Dowd. Tickets on sale now! More info on the bands here.

Tickets for Lebowski Fest New York are on sale now! Check out another amazing poster design by Bill Green! Every one of our events have sold out within 10 days of going on sale so mark your calendars!

Thanks to the over 4000 Achievers from 35 states and Canada for an amazing weekend! Pictures are in and there's more to come. Until then, check out the Lebowski Live Lunch Radio Hour. Click on "June 18th, 2004" for streaming audio.

We're ready to rock! Louisville will be transformed into Lebowskiville - population 3000! We'll be giving away an autographed bowling pin from Jeff Bridges and the actual marmot prop from the film will be on display!

Detailed Itinerary and Contest rules have been posted. Only the bowling event at 8pm on Saturday is sold out. The My Morning Jacket concert and movie screening tickets are available and the Saturday Garden party in the parking lot with Bodeco, King Kong, and others is only $5 and will not sell out! Even if you didnt get a bowling ticket, come out and achieve anyway!

Lebowski Fest New York is scheduled for August 14th, 2004. Tickets go on sale July 1st at 3pm EST.

Lebowski Fest makes June 2004 issue of Relix Magazine.

Tickets to the Saturday night bowling event on 6/19 are sold out! The parking lot festival with bands, beverages, games and what-have-you will be open for $5 at the gate and will run from 1pm until 10pm. Condolences if you didnt get a ticket for bowling, but you can go out and achieve anyway for just $5! Tickets still remain for the Friday night waterfront concert with My Morning Jacket followed by the movie screening.

The limited edition poster done for us by Shepard Fairey from Obey Giant is now sold out. Congrats to those who got one, condolences to those who will have to turn to eBay.

95% of the tickets have sold in the first week - over 35 US States and Canada are represented. Here are some pics from the on sale event at EarX-Tacy.

The 3rd Annual Flyer is out and includes all the latest. It is available for download if you want to help spread the word.

Bands for Saturday have been confirmed and include Bodeco, King Kong, The Pine Club, Warren Ray, and The Shooting Gallery.

3rd Annual Event Poster is now available. There will be a limited edition/signed and numbered screen-printed version available in June.

Lebowski Fest makes SPIN Magazine again! May 2004 issue, exposure section.

Lebowski Fest entered into the Kentucky Derby Festival Bed Races being held on April 26th, 2004. Unfortunately the bums lost. Condolences, but we do have pictures and video clips.

My Morning Jacket outdoor concert and movie screening will kick off the 3rd Annual Lebowski Fest! Louisville's own My Morning Jacket will play a concert in Louisville's brand new waterfront amphitheater followed by a movie screening under the stars. The concert and screening will be on Friday June 18th. A discounted combo ticket will be available for both Friday and Saturday.

3rd Annual Tickets will be on sale in advance on May 10th, 2004 at 3:00 P.M. EST. All of our events have sold out weeks in advance so please purchase them through the site. Check here for any details.

3rd Annual Artwork - the lovable Bill Green has created another masterpiece. And proud we are of him.

Lebowski Fest West Pictures are up!

Roadie Shirt - To commemorate your days as a Roadie on the Speed of Sound Tour with the Dude.

New Bumper Stickers! 10 new bumper stickers plus get a free LebowskiFest.com bumper sticker with every order!

Lebowski Fest West was incredible! Check out the goods.

Video from 1st Annual What-Have-You Fest! Now you can watch Scott give a tour of the first event ever. See our humble beginnings.

Lebowski Fest West tickets for Saturday night are completely sold out. Tickets still remain for the Friday night screening of the film with Liam.

Jeff Bridges has autographed some things to give away as prizes in Vegas!

Celebrity appearances in Vegas by James Hoosier who played The Jesus' bowling partner Liam! Jeff "The Dude" Dowd will also be there being The Dude.

Lebowski Fest West Posters are here! 2nd Annual posters are still available as well. Both masterfully designed by the lovable Bill Green. You want a poster? I can get you a poster. There are ways...

A new Chat Room is up.

More 2nd Annual Pics have been posted here. Good times.

Lebowski Fest West - Las Vegas, NV - Feb. 27th - 29th, 2004! Lebowski Fest West Tickets on sale now! People are coming from over 30 US states and Canada. Click here to see where people are coming from.

Bumper Stickers are in. Five different ones. Check them out here.

Happy Birthday Lebowski Fest! It was only one year ago on October 12th, 2002 that the 1st Annual Lebowski Fest was held. Here are some pics from that amazing night.

Lebowski Fest West is shaping up for early spring of 2004. We will be announcing very soon where it will be. Make sure you're on the mailing list so you don't miss out when tickets go on sale.

Give the Gift of Lebowski. Now you can send the Achiever in your life a Lebowski Fest shirt or poster with a personalized gift message. Just add whatever you want to send to your cart and specify "Send as a gift" upon check out. We'll deliver it right to their door with a message from you.

The press page has been updated. Sheesh, we showed up in a lot of places!

Are you an Achiever? Lebowski Fans can go out and achieve anyway with this handsome new Achiever Shirt. And proud we are of all of them...

We have a date and location for the 3rd Annual Lebowski Fest! June 19th, 2004 at the Executive Bowl in Louisville, KY! The official hotel is right next door and this bowling alley has many more lanes than this years! We will post all the details as they become available. Make sure that you're on the mailing list to be notified of all the details.

The OBEY LEBOWSKI Prints are available - hurry if you want one, these are limited to 300.

The official recap of the weekend!

Thanks to everyone who participated this weekend! We had a blast putting it together and thoroughly enjoyed meeting every one of you. We had about 1400 people attend Lebowski Fest throughout the weekend and about 600 traveled from out of town. Please send us more links to photos!

Check out some of the press Lebowski Fest has been getting.

People traveled from over 30 US states, Canada, and Singapore. Check out the full list.

Mark it, Dude - the 2nd Annual shirts and Event Posters are here.

Press about Lebowski Fest.

Yahoo! Picks selects LebowskiFest.com as one of the best sites on the web. Also, the weekend itinerary has been posted. Mark it, Dude.

SPIN Magazine calls Lebowski Fest one of 19 shows you can't miss this summer.

6-1-03

Midnight screening of The Big Lebowski Friday July 18th with Jeff "The Dude" Dowd! For those coming in from out of town, plan on making a weekend of it. Not only will The Dude himself be on hand to introduce the film, there may even be Achievers acting out certain scenes in front of the theater. Tickets to the film will be available online closer to the event. Eat your heart out Rocky Horror, there's a new cult film on the rise. Check the itenerary for details.

5-24-03

Celebrity appearance by Jeff "The Dude" Dowd! The man who inspired the character of The Dude will be coming to the event to hang out and drink some White Russians.

5-21-03

Do you want to be interviewed in the Lebowski Fest Documentary? Here's how.

5-2-03

Lebowski Fest Documentary! Film makers who have worked in television, films, and music video are bringing their camera crew out to film a full-length documentary at this year's event! More info will be forthcoming.

4-24-03

The Lebowski Mobile needs some new rotors! Got a few new pictures.

4-21-03

We have bumper stickers! More info on this soon. Hurry up and vote for this year's Lebowski Fest t-shirt quote.

3-23-03

Newsletter archives are now available for your perusal. If you would like to be added to the mailing list to be notified when new shit has come to light, click here.

3-9-03

A new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) has been added to the site. The Lebowski Mobile is back up and running. We are in the process of planning some great stuff for this years event. Check back for more info soon.

2-27-03

We are in the process of moving Lebowski Fest headquarters. Thanks for your patience as we gets things straightened out. Ya know, lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous. We should be back in full-force by mid March.

Thanks for all the great emails you guys are sending in support. They are all inspiring us to take it to the next level this year!

Here's an update on the Lebowski Mobile. Sadly, it overheated and was gushing antifreeze as if it's jugular was cut. Doh! An evil person was attempting to have it towed by the city but we beat them to the punch thanks to our allies in the streets. Good lookin' out Mark and Melissa! It's now in the hospital. Hopefully it will have a speedy recovery (and an affordable one).

2-9-03

The online poll to choose this year's Lebowski Fest t-shirt quote is up. Click here to vote for your favorite quote.

2-2-03

The Holiday Inn located at 3255 Bardstown Rd in Louisville will be the official Lebowski Fest hotel. Click here for their web site. Call (502) 454-0451 to make reservations. Mention that you are attending "Lebowski Fest" for the discount convention rate for July 18th and July 19th. This hotel is right next to the bowling alley where the event will be and is just a couple miles down the road from "the highlands" which is a very cool district in Louisville with lots to do. More to come!

1-26-03

We will be posting contact info for the Official Lebowski Fest Hoiday Inn within the week. There are a limited number of rooms available at the discount rate of $62/night for up to five people on Friday, July 18th and Saturday, July 19th. This hotel is within 100 feet of the AMF Rose Bowl where the event will be held. There is a liquor store next door, 24 hour gas stations, 24 hour Steak n' Shake (closest thing to an "In-and-Out Burger"), and lots of restaurants.

There is also a chat-room on the site. It's pretty bush league, but it'll do.

1-13-03

We have an official Lebowksi Fest hotel at the Holiday Inn which is right next door to the AMF Rose Bowl where the event will be held. Check the Second Annual page for more info.

1-12-03

The Nixon Bowling Poster is here! This poster really ties the room together!

12-30-02

The date of the Second Annual Big Lebowski What-Have-You Fest is Saturday, July 19th, 2003. It will be held at the AMF Rose Bowl in Louisville, KY from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M. Mark it 8, Dude!

12-29-02

Happy New Year! The Lebowski Fest Mobile is born. Behold...
We are still working on securing a date and location and should know something by the end of January. Stay tuned for more on our "surprise" coming to this site in a few short weeks. Thanks to all who have joined the discussion forum and are rockin' it out. Get over there and put in your two cents on what the quote for this years t-shirt should be.

12-10-02

We have a new and improved discussion forum. No more bush league forum.

12-8-02

We've moved to www.LebowskiFest.com! Update your bookmarks and tell your buddies. We are going to have something really cool up on the site in a few short weeks. We can't let the cat out of the bag just yet, so please check back in late December.

11-23-02

We are currently in negotiations with several bowling alleys around Louisville for the sencond annual What Have You Fest to be held in summer 2003. We are talking to some big alleys with full bars! White Russians will be on!

10-24-02

Plans for the 2nd Annual are underway and we are welcome to any suggestions. Check out Mike's (from Bolwling Road Trip) review and pics.

10-18-02

Hollywood Star Lanes, where the Big Lebowski was filmed was recently demolished :(
Here's a piece of history. Now that would have made for a nice prize!

10-16-02

We got some love from the LEO (Louisville Eccentric Observer). Special thanks to Caleb Brown for the write up and for coming out Saturday. The site has been redesigned which a less obnoxious Richard Nixon. You can still view the original flyer. Bill Green will be editing his DV footage for a What Have You Fest documentary. More info to come.


10-13-02

Check out photos and reviews. Thanks to everyone who came out and made Lebowski history!

10-11-02

The big weekend is here! Mark it 8 dude!


10-10-02

We are only two days away! We have already had pre-sales from Ohio and Arizona! Everything is ready for the big night. The trivia will be in three rounds. Upon entering, everyone will be given the "Round 1" trivia sheet which is 10 multiple choice questions. You have until 9:30 to turn in Round 1. The winners from Round 1 will be called back to the "Trophy Table" for Round 2 which is 10 more multiple choice questions. Three finalists will go to the final round where they will be given three verbal questions each.


10-5-02

This guy is coming to the What Have You Fest!


10-2-02

The emails keep pouring in from Lebowski enthusiasts who are coming down to the 'What Have You' Fest. We have had responses from potential attendees from Columbus, Philly, U-Mass (Amherst), Boston, and Chicago! That 'furthest traveled' contest should be a good one! We are only 10 days away....


9-24-02

We are in the process of making t-shirts for the convention. They will be similar to the flyer with the image of Nixon bowling. There will be a quote on the back. We have thought long and hard and have come up with one we really like from the movie but if you have a suggestion and can get it to us in time (like by tomorrow), we may use it. We narrowed the quotes down to "I don't want to say a hero, 'cause what's a hero?", "Mark it 8, Dude...", and "Smokey, this isn't Nam, this is bowling, there are rules." We will post pictures when they are finished and will offer them for sale online for those overseas or unable to attend.

This being the 1ST annual What Have You Fest, we are on a limited budget. Unfortunately, the bowling alley hosting the convention will not allow us to serve alcohol. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and are already planning for next year to be at a location where the White Russians can flow freely. They will be serving sodas and bowling alley food such as chips, dogs, maybe even some "In and Out Burgers".

The response continues to be tremendous and we are very excited about the What Have You Fest. We have also heard some great ideas for costumes.

"Oh boy. How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus" - In searching for quotes I came across this page and thought you all might enjoy these as much as I did.

9-20-02


Trophies! These will be custom engraved for the '1st Annual Big Lebowski What Have You Fest' and will make a hell of a souvenir! Someone just pointed out that we will be having the event on Shomar Shabbas! Burkalter, at the league office said we couldn't re-schedule.

Update We have just been informed that Shabbas ends at sundown Saturday night so we will not interfere with the 'day of rest shit'. It is, after all, 'Bush League Psyche out stuff. Laughable Man!'


9-19-02

We have found some great bowling trophies which will be custom engraved for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes for the above mentioned contests. We are working on some other prizes which we announce when they are acquired.

We will also have a "Farthest Traveled" prize. We have already had inquiries from Philly, U-Mass (Amherst), Boston, and Chicago!