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Hundreds of rock-and-rollers depart Sydney for annual Elvis festival in Parkes
ABC NEWS (Australia)
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1/10/2025
The Elvis Express is on its way to Parkes in New South Wales' central west, where a five-day festival dedicated to Elvis Presley is getting underway. It is expected to generate around four million dollars in tourism for the region.
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00:00
Well, you might be wondering, how many Elvis tribute artists does it take to summon the
00:07
spirit of the king of rock and roll?
00:09
Well, parks in New South Wales, a small Central Australian town, might go the ways to answering
00:14
it.
00:15
There's more than 20,000 people expected to descend on the small country town.
00:20
Many of them dress just like my dear friend here.
00:22
Where have you come from today, Elvis?
00:24
Scotland.
00:25
Now, I believe Elvis' roots are actually in Scotland, but you've got a special connection
00:29
here today, don't you?
00:30
Oh, yeah.
00:31
My cousin, he's performing.
00:33
He's one of the performers, so, yeah.
00:35
This is my cousin Kyle, so we've come as a family, so, yeah.
00:40
And so, with that too, what's it like, then?
00:42
You've all gotten into the spirit of him.
00:44
He's performing, but you've both...
00:45
Not me.
00:46
I'm not performing.
00:47
My brother's performing.
00:48
I'm just tagging along as well.
00:49
Yeah.
00:50
He's a tribute act.
00:51
Yeah.
00:52
So, we're here for a bit of family moral support, you know, get dressed up for the occasion.
00:57
Will you do any kind of dancing on the stage with him as well?
00:59
Yeah, for sure.
01:00
If we're invited, there'll be plenty of dancing.
01:02
Oh, yes.
01:03
For sure.
01:04
I suppose the amazing thing about Elvis is that he had so many eras.
01:07
You've got yourself here.
01:08
This is kind of as early as...
01:09
I think this is the 50s era.
01:10
Yeah.
01:11
I went a bit younger.
01:12
Yeah.
01:13
I prefer a bit more comfy.
01:14
Yeah.
01:15
I've went older, obviously.
01:16
Yeah.
01:17
Yeah.
01:18
Dressed for the occasion.
01:19
And, honestly, you're going to see so many people just like this, not just here on this
01:22
carriage of the Viva Las Vegas Express, but right across parks over the next few days.
01:27
And, of course, in America, it's still January 8th there, so it still is the King's birthday.
01:31
And while he's not here in person, you almost feel like the spirit of Elvis is alive.
01:36
We've even got a 90th birthday balloon to mark what would have actually been his 90th
01:41
birthday.
01:42
And so incredible that Parks, this little country town in New South Wales, actually
01:46
now into its 32nd year, hosts the largest gathering of Elvis tribute artists, certainly
01:52
of Elvis fans.
01:53
You'll see hundreds on this carriage alone and many more departed from Central Station
01:57
earlier this morning.
01:58
It's the largest outside of the United States.
02:00
In fact, it's the largest outside Gracelands in Memphis.
02:04
So really quite an incredible amalgamation and coming together of people.
02:09
And from such a far and wide place, it's no doubt that they're going to be having the
02:13
time of their lives.
02:14
They're all shook up.
02:15
They've left Heartbreak Hotel, and now there's a little bit of burning love in the air.
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