The Lebowski Fest Rolls Into The Tri-State Area

Bowling shirts, bathrobes and tool belts were worn by numerous attendees on Tuesday’s New York City Lebowski Fest movie screening party. The first of the 3-day New York City Parties, day 2 and 3 included bowling parties, costumes were encouraged. I did feel slightly out of place solely sporting my “The Jesus” t-shirt, when I checked in at will-call and showed my state ID, I got a chuckle from the handler who said, “Look, The Jesus” as he flashed my ID to his colleagues. Only on this rare occasion did I not mind being called The Jesus instead of De Jesus (insert Spanish accent here).

The festivities kicked off with a performance by The Black Diamond Heavies, who played tunes from The Big Lebowski’s movie soundtrack prior to the screening of the movie. The Dude introduced the founders of the festival, a duo who was dressed like pinballs. After their brief introduction and rundown of the festival festivities, the three walked off stage and proceeded to mingle among the crowd, stopping to pose for photographs with attendees.

I was amazed by how enthusiastic and easygoing everyone in attendance was. They shared a common passion for the Coen’s 1998 cult film and felt right at home and would easily approach others in attendance to complement the other on their costumes or swapped stories on the first time they saw the film and which parts they enjoyed the most. Some even quoted lines from the film as they waited in line to get in.

The evening was full of exciting moments and excitable attendees, that night Terminal 5 roared with laughter and thundered with applause, it was a night unlike any other, but most of all it was entertaining as hell.