Once a year Parkes, a sleepy mining town in rural Australia, explodes into colour and song — a veritable Graceland in the outback hosting a five-day extravaganza to celebrate 'The King.'
Die-hard fans don their polyester jumpsuits, thick black wigs and gold-coloured necklaces, hopping on the "Elvis Express" and "Blue Suede Express" trains to the event, now billed as the southern hemisphere's biggest tribute to the superstar.
The town's transformation extends beyond the superficial —organisers estimate this year's Parkes Elvis Festival generated US$9.3 million (Aus$13 million) for the local economy as more than 27,000 people visited attending some 200 themed events.
"It's just crazy," said North Parkes Motel owner Andrew Porter of the frenzied growth in tourists.
The event, held to coincide with Elvis' January birthday, runs at the height of summer when temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
But neither fact deters the fans: What was a sleepy summer period has turned into full occupancy during the festival. Accommodation is fully booked years in advance, caravan parks fill up quickly and sporting fields are packed with tents.
By the 1990s, Parkes and similar rural towns began to struggle as agricultural work declined.
Keen to draw in more customers during the quiet summer, when even townsfolk flee to the coast to get relief from the heat, restaurant owners Bob and Anne Steel organised a birthday party for their idol.
The first Elvis celebration in 1993 drew 200 participants, and the Steels had so much fun they made it an annual event.
At first there was little impact on the local economy, town mayor Ken Keith said. But as visitor numbers rose, so did revenues.
Parkes is now so full that towns up to two-and-a-half hours' drive away have started to cash in by offering accommodation and transport for revellers who missed out on a place to stay near the festival.
The New South Wales state government is projecting an injection of $30.5 million (Aus$43 million) into the wider region surrounding Parkes this year due to the festival, a much-needed source of income amid a severe drought.
The population has increased by four percent to around 12,000 in the past decade, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in sharp contrast to the declining or static trend in other regional and rural towns.
A growing number of young people are attending the event, but more than half of festival-goers are aged 55 or older.
"Some women have come out, tears in their eyes. And I said, 'What's the matter?' and they said, 'He's not dead, he's alive, you can see him in there!'," Lennox told AFP of visitors to his museum.
