Free screenings of 'Groundhog Day' return for annual Woodstock celebration

The Groundhog Days celebration in the town of Woodstock, IL will once again feature free screenings of the Bill Murray-starrer “Groundhog Day.” The film will screen at 10am on February 2 and February 3 at the Woodstock Theatre.

Directed by Harold Ramis, “Groundhog Day” tells the story of weatherman Phil Connors(played by Murray). After being sent to the small town of Punxsutawney, PA, Phil finds himself waking up to repeat the same titular day over and over again. Although the film is set in Pennsylvania, it was shot in Woodstock. The movie theatre is featured in the film, but is renamed as the “Alpine Theatre.”

There are plaques in the Woodstock Square commemorating the town’s involvement with “Groundhog Day.” There is even one marking the spot where Murray’s character Connors repetitiously steps in a puddle in the film, reading “Bill Murray stepped here.” Murray is a Chicagoland native himself, having grown up in the nearby town of Wilmette. After “Groundhog Day”, he went on to star in a flurry of successful films, such as “Lost in Translation” and the recent “Moonrise Kingdom.” He can currently be seen on the big screen in “Hyde Park on Hudson”, playing former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The Woodstock Theatre has offered free screenings of “Groundhog Day” for the past sixteen years. Woodstock’s Groundhog Days events will begin January 27, and will feature a chili cookoff as well as walking tours of the filming sites. The complete list of events can be found at www.woodstockgroundhog.org.

It has been a busy week for Woodstock Theatre news. It was also announced this week that the 11th Annual Woodstock International Film Festival would be moving to September.