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Elvis has left the building, and set new records in his tracksLast modified: January 16, 2008 - 6:28 PM
After five days of more than 80 Elvis events in Parkes, Elvis has left the building and certainly left it all shook up! The 16th Annual ClubsNSW Parkes Elvis Festival broke record crowds with an estimated 8,000 visitors enjoying the festivities. The hallmark event is estimated to have injected well over $2.5million into the Parkes economy. The surrounding region will also have benefited, with visitors staying in Peak Hill, Forbes and even Molong for the first time. Shuttle Buses travelled between Peak Hill and Parkes and Forbes and Parkes all weekend. Festival goers lined the main street of Parkes on Saturday morning for the Elvis Street Parade - a highlight of the Festival. Sunday morning's Elvis Gospel Church Service again proved a popular event, with an audience of 2,200 (up from 1,700 the previous year) turning out to enjoy Elvis' first love - Gospel Music. The Festival's Feature Performer Mark Andrew, delighted packed audiences at his shows, with around 2200 people being delighted by the 4 shows (of which 3 were all different). The Melbourne based performer won over the crowds with his energy, and show-stopping performances which were supported by dancing girls and a 7-piece band, and he certainly delighted the ladies with his flattering costumes and Elvis-style charm. Even Mark was surprised that his Sunday afternoon show was a packed house "given that the train left at 1pm and the show didn't start until 3pm". While professional Elvis Tribute Artists wowed audiences in clubs and pubs across Parkes, amateur Elvi entertained crowds at the Festival's outdoor venue in Cooke Park, along with the many buskers that lined the streets and even the Metro Plaza. The CountryLink Elvis Express Train's arrival in Parkes on Friday afternoon saw 375 Sydney visitors (up from 245 last year) disembark to a platform full of Elvi and welcoming local Parkes residents. All events on the Program this year have reported pleasing or record-breaking attendance, including the inaugural Elvis Art Exhibition which saw close to 1000 visitors through the door (up from 660 last year). "The Festival Headquarters, Elvis Central was also busy all weekend, with record sales of Elvis wigs, accessories and other festival merchandise" said Tourism Manager Kelly Hendry. "Sponsorships have had an integral role in making it possible to grow this year's event larger and to present it with increased professionalism," said Mrs. Hendry. The support of major sponsors ClubsNSW, Tourism NSW, Keno, Elite Special Event Tours, Parkes Shire Council, Country Energy, Rex Airlines, and TransTank are of particular note. "It was also exciting to welcome Jack Daniels on board as the outdoor stage sponsor for the first time this year. This also saw them bring along the Jack Daniels experience truck and promotional staff, which certainly delighted some visitors." Businesses across Parkes have reported record trade over the weekend, with cafés, clubs and pubs packing out with visitors and locals alike. With local accommodation booked out well-ahead of the festival, the committee gets creative in the development of new accommodation options. This year the 'Gracelands on the Green' Tent City at Northparkes Oval sported 72 tents (up from just 20 last year). Almost 200 guests were accommodated through the Home Hosting program and even the showground was filled for the first time by Caravans, Motorhomes, Campervans and Tents. Other visitors chose to stay in surrounding towns and trip in to Parkes each day. "The Parkes Visitor Information Centre has already been inundated with phone calls for bookings for the 2009 Festival. With the festival expected to attract even bigger crowds next year, the challenge will continue to be finding accommodation." "The Festival Committee are very thankful to the many local residents who hosted visitors in their home during the event and we look forward to continuing Home Hosting as well as exploring new accommodation options," said Mrs. Hendry. From all reports, most attendees and locals were very well behaved throughout the festival, which is outstanding given the scale of the event. According to Mrs. Hendry, "Whilst having been staged for 16 years, its been the last 5 years that the festival has really boomed and risen to its current level of success. This sudden growth continues to generate new challenges and issues for the committee and all involved. The event really is quite complex, as it involves many aspects including over eighty individual events, plus the logistics side of things such as transport, road closures, security and generating additional accommodation." "A volunteer committee of around twenty people work year-round to organise the overall event, and without them the festival would never get off the ground. There are also many ancillary organising committees, such as the group that organises the Gospel Church Service, plus those that organise the Miss Priscilla dinner. A really big thanks goes out to all of these people, as many hands and sub-committees make light work". A major thank you must also be extended to the many volunteers who gave time throughout the festival to help with many tasks including marshalling at the street parade, merchandise sales in Elvis Central, program sales, ushering at concerts, and just general set-up and pull-down type tasks. "A desperate call for help was issued just days before the event, and the committee were overwhelmed at how many great people came forward and worked for many hours to make the festival happen, so thanks again to everyone". The media spotlight shone again on Parkes, with the festival generating news stories on the national platform over the past fortnight - in all media forms including newspaper, radio, television, magazines and the web. "So many other towns and festival organisers want to know what Parkes' secret is, and how to make their event as successful as Elvis has become for us. There is no straightforward answer. We knew that the Elvis Festival had the potential to attract more people, given the interest in this icon. Not every event can grow to be as successful as Elvis, you've got to have something unique and quirky to start with. Once you've got that, you've got to have a strong, passionate and motivated committee to make it work, and ideas and vision on how to grow. Once you've got this, you've got to sell your vision to sponsors, as sponsorship support really enables events to reach their goals. Of course the support of Parkes Shire Council has also really helped". Planning for the next festival will get straight underway, "an event committee's work is never done. Straight away you must wrap everything up, pay all the bills and thank everyone. Once this is done, things need to start being booked and organised for next year." The committee will possibly look at a new format for the 2009 Festival, aimed at better benefiting the local businesses. "This obviously has to be talked about, planned and budgeted for, but excellent feedback is received each year and it really gives organisers something to work with to keep improving the event". Elvis Revival Inc., the coordinating body always need new and motivated committee members. The event just continues to grow, which also means that the number of people organising the different components needs to grow. The committee is getting to a point where it needs new people involved to start learning from those that have been doing it for a few years, as they really need to prevent burn-out of current members. If you are interested in going along and finding out what the committee is all about and what jobs need doing, contact Parkes Visitor Information Centre on 6863 8860. The next ClubsNSW Parkes Elvis Festival will be held from 7-11 January 2009, so mark your calendars now. Media contact: Parkes Shire Tourism Manager Kelly Hendry, phone 6863 8860 or 0409 712 336 Contact details |
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© 2008 Parkes Shire Council |
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