Caddyshack has long been considered the high-water mark for golf movies in general and golf comedies specifically. With the type of rabid fanbase that Caddyshack still holds to this day, a festival to celebrate the film seems an obvious next step for Will Russell, the co-founder of Lebowski Fest.
Lebowski Fest is centered around celebrating all things The Big Lebowski, the Coen Brothers film that stars Jeff Daniels as the oft-quotable “Dude.” Russell and his friend, Matt Davis, had another movie that they found themselves constantly quoting and Caddyshack Fest was born.
“Bowling really ties Lebowski Fest together,” Russell told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s great to have an activity. I was like, ‘What’s another movie that has an activity? Caddyshack!’ It’s a f—ing great movie. It’s hilarious. It’s so quotable, just like Lebowski. I’m hanging out with my friend Matt Davis, and he’s always quotingLebowski and Caddyshack, and I was like, ‘Dude, you want to do this Caddyshack Fest with me?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, man! Let’s do it!’
“We drove out to this golf course in Louisville, and this place is perfect. We’re going to have golf cart races and costume contests and a dance party. It’s going to be just a blast. We published the Facebook page today about 3 p.m., and last I looked it had about 200 followers already, so I think it’s going to be a huge hit. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit (the mental health non-profit) Everything Will Be OK Project.”
Lebowski Fest founder launching Caddyshack Fest in summer 2019 https://t.co/BMMMqMGy8c
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) October 28, 2018
The first-annual Caddyshack Fest will be held in 2019 in Louisville, and like its Lebowski Fest-inspiration, Russell hopes that the cult-like fanbase that exists, especially in the golf community, will come out and support the festival.
Lebowski Fest has been such a success since its inception in 2002 that stars of the movie have stopped by for guest appearances. Russell said the festival’s golden goose would be getting Bill Murray to attend, and there’s already an optimistic thread in place that ties Murray to Louisville — his son, Luke, followed former Xavier University head basketball coach Chris Mack to his new post as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals.
“Well, obviously, he is the one,” Russell said. “Bill Murray is our dream guest, and his son just got a job coaching [basketball] for the University of Louisville.”
The Caddyshack Fest website is up and functional, although it doesn’t yield too many details at this point.
