About the Festival

The CountryLink Parkes Elvis Festival is held every January in Parkes, Central New South Wales. The event is held on the second weekend in January, coinciding with Elvis Presley's birthday. In 2012 the dates are the 11-15 January. Parkes has a population of 11,000 and is located 365 kilometres west of Sydney.

How it all began…

Why an Elvis Festival in Parkes? Parkes has a bunch of passionate Elvis fans - one local Elvis fan has even changed his name to Elvis by deed poll and another local couple operated 'Gracelands Restaurant' for many years. The Festival concept was conceived by these and other passionate community members, who saw potential for a fun event. January was identified as the perfect time to stage the event, being a slow time in local tourism and also coinciding with Elvis Presley's Birthday (8th January). The first Festival was held in Parkes in January 1993.

The Festival has sparked a boom in awareness of Parkes as a tourist destination. Since the Australian move 'The Dish' hit the big screen, Parkes had been best known as the home of Radio Telescope, but now the town has become widely recognised as the 'Elvis Capital of Australia'!

The event…

The festival's events are held over five days (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and each year the program is extending, now with more than 140 individual events held across five days. The festival program features the Elvis Concerts in the club venues, an Elvis Gospel Church Service, a Street Parade, free Elvis in the Park entertainment and various other novelty events such as the 'Back to the Altar with Elvis - Renewal of Wedding Vows', the 'TransTank Miss Priscilla Dinner', 'Elvis Poet's Breakfast' and much more.

The CountryLink Elvis Express train from Sydney to Parkes return, is an annual highlight for festival visitors and a valuable partnership marketing activity. The Festival experience begins even before visitors arrive in town, as they are serenaded by Elvis all the way from Sydney.

The Festival's incredible growth…

In January 2011 a whopping 15,000 visitors attended the festival, doubling Parkes' population.  The Festival started out in January 1993 as a very small event held on one night only with a few hundred people in attendance. In the first 10 years of the festival there were a few more events added and it became a two day event, but there were still only limited visitors attending. With the vision and efforts of some new committee members and the development of a fruitful partnership with Parkes Shire Council in 2003, the Festival began to explode in popularity and word quickly spread across Australia about this fun and quirky event in a NSW country town, met with increased sponsorship and marketing of this niche event, all of which have contributed to its current success.