A decade of Parkes Elvis Festivals in succession! 

That’s the claim Peter and Lyn Davis of Tamworth can make and they have no plans on stopping there.

Peter and Lyn have been  huge Elvis fans their whole lives.

“We’ve been to Gracelands and stayed at Heartbreak Hotel,” Lyn said. 

“It was great!”

The couple, both school bus drivers, have refurbished their own bus and travel in it every chance they get.

“It’s the second one we have done,” Lyn said.

“We knew exactly what we were doing the second time around. We did everything ourselves except for the kitchen - a cabinet maker built it.”

Peter said the Elvis Festival is becoming a meeting place for them and for people from all over Australia who they have met here over the years.

“We just like the friendship between everyone,” he said.

“We love it. Everyone is on the same page, there’s never any animosity.

“We have made friends from all over the country and we’ve made local friends too.”

Lyn said last year they ran into a young man who used to be on her school bus run and moved to Parkes 10 years ago. 

“We are catching up with him again this year,” she said.

“Friends of ours from Tamworth are turning up on Wednesday. We dress up and have a ball.”

The Davis’ are arriving earlier and earlier every year.

“When we first stayed here at the showground, there were only about 20 vans, now it is packed to capacity. The Festival has really grown in that time,” Peter said.

But Peter has a warning for Festival organisers.

“I think it’s starting to get a bit expensive. If they’re not careful it will follow the same path as the Tamworth Country Music Festival and outprice itself,” he said.

“The trouble with Tamworth is it's all about the dollars, and it is struggling now.

“Most of the people here are in our age group.

“There are a lot of self funded retirees here and they have to manage their funds carefully. If it gets too expensive, they just won’t come.”