Photo Courtesy/ City of Sandusky

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A first-time Ohio festival marking the 30th anniversary of the buddy comedy “Tommy Boy” is being declared a success and a variety of plans to keep celebrating the film are already underway.

Although the picture was primarily shot in Canada, the inaugural Tommy Boy Fest was held last summer in Sandusky, where the 1995 hit was set. The movie follows the journey of Tom “Tommy Boy” Callahan III (Chris Farley) and Richard Hayden (David Spade) on a mission to save Callahan’s family business, a brake pad manufacturer.

The three-day event boasted more than a dozen activities and was organized by the City of Sandusky, the Greater Sandusky Partnership and Shores & Islands Ohio. Jason Werling, recreation superintendent for the City of Sandusky, told NBC4 that it was a triumph for the north coast locality.

“We had a great time last August with the event and probably the most positive feedback we have heard on anything we have done,” said Werling. “The national attention was awesome for our city.”

Recently, Werling was credited by Jill Bauer and Jennifer Yochem of Shores & Islands Ohio, as the architect of the affair in a digital magazine article from Ohio Goes to the Movies, part of the America 250 Ohio initiative. The story profiled the festival’s accomplishments, which included many highlights.

Previously, NBC4 reported that the movie’s director, Peter Segal, signed on to participate in a Q&A session and show off his restored 1967 Plymouth Belvedere II GTX convertible, the actual car Farley and Spade used in the movie. Kevin Farley, brother of the late Chris Farley, also took part by hosting a “Tommy Boy” lookalike contest and presenting a comedy show, which was followed by an outdoor screening of the film.

According to Werling, the entire festival will likely return in 2030 for the movie’s 35th anniversary. In the meantime, “Tommy Boy” fans can look forward to some key events to keep the party going.

“We … plan to bring back some components of Tommy Boy Fest like a screening of the movie, the ‘Tommy Want Wingy Throwdown’ and the ‘Fat Guy in a Little Race’ around the time Sandusky hosts the IRONMAN 70.3 Ohio event this July,” said Werling.

The Tommy Want Wingy Throwdown was a chicken wing tasting competition that offered participants samples of wings and beer. The Fat Guy in a Little Race featured a 0.5K run that had hundreds of participants chasing a school bus, in reference to the movie’s title sequence.

Additionally, Bauer and Yochem told Ohio Goes to the Movies that the event attracted 44,000 visitors and that people from New Jersey, Minnesota and even Hawaii, registered to take part in activities.