- Title: Aloha! Australia's Elvis enthusiasts kick off pilgrimage for annual festival
- Date: 5th January 2023
- Summary: ELVIS EXPRESS DEPARTING FROM STATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) ELVIS FESTIVAL ATTENDEE, MARY SIMMONDS, SAYING: “I just love Elvis, that’s it. Handsome, unbelievable. He’ll never die while I’m alive. So that’s it.†ELVIS FESTIVAL ATTENDEES ON TRAIN ELVIS IMPERSONATOR HANGING OUTSIDE DEPARTING TRAIN
- Embargoed: 19th January 2023 01:53
- Keywords: Australia Elvis Elvis Express Elvis Presley Parkes Parkes Elvis Festival Sydney music
- Location: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
- City: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA008046804012023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Nearly 200 Elvis impersonators and fans, dressed in Hawaiian shirts and diamante-encrusted jumpsuits, boarded the ‘Elvis Express’ in Sydney on Thursday (January 5) morning, heading to the 30th annual Elvis Festival.
Tribute artists serenaded and crooned fans in Central Station in Sydney and later on the train itself for the 185 passengers on the six-hour train trip to the festival.
Streets markets, lookalike contests and parades are planned for the four-day event in the Australian country town of Parkes. The 1961 musical hit, Blue Hawaii, will be the theme for this year’s festival, which first began in 1993.
Over 24,000 Elvis fans are expected to visit Parkes for the festival, more than doubling the town's population.
(Production: James Redmayne) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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