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There is no official plural for a gathering of Elvis Presley impersonators.
So I now am officially declaring “Elvi” as the collective noun for a group of Elvises, and there was much Elvi at Sydney‘s Central station this morning, preparing to board a train called the Elvis Express.
Destination? Parkes, in the state’s central west, and the Parkes Elvis Festival.
Parkes Elvis Festival was one night at a local club when it began, with a roll call of Elvis impersonators performers from around the country, an idea to draw tourists to the town during the peak of summer.
Now, 30 years on, and that one night stand has now expanded to five days of festivities, drawing more than 25,000 visitors to Parkes, and injecting millions into the economy that is still recovering from bushfire, COVID-19 and recent floods.
“To see all the accommodation fully booked across the region, this is fantastic,” Regional Transport Minister Sam Farraway said.
Ken Keith is Parkes’ Mayor and is standing on platform one wearing his mayoral chains over a blue Elvis 70’s jumpsuit.
The two blend seamlessly.
“The mental effect of having the Festival back is really important,” says the Mayor.
“The emotional strain that people went through over the last few years; we just want a normal average year, thanks very much.”
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And that means the town’s streets will be taken over again by Elvi for the next five days.
And it will be a rich kaleidoscope of Elvi that will be heading to Parkes.
Elvi from Brazil, Japan, the UK and India will represent the worldwide audience that the king of rock ‘n’ roll reaches, even 40 years after his death.
And all were bubbling like drains with anticipation.
It was interesting to note that amongst Elvi, the 70’s jumpsuit period is the dominant wardrobe theme.
Not so for Amelio Prince, dolled up as Elvis from the 1950’s.
“There’s too many 70’s Elvis jumpsuits out there,” says Amelio, as the strains of Hound Dog play in the background, “so I thought, not many young ones do the young Elvis”.
In Parkes this weekend, you are guaranteed to meet every iteration of the King.
