After five days of non-stop hip-swiveling, rocking and rolling, and singing about their blue suede shoes, Elvis fans headed to the Parkes Train Station on Monday morning, bound for home.
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It was the last official gathering for fans and Parkes locals after the 2018 Parkes Elvis Festival came to a close on Sunday night.
Festival goers hugged their home hosts and new and old friends goodbye as Parkes’ Little Boppers Dance Troupe gave them one last dance performance in the background.
Among those who attended the station to farewell the visitors from 8am were Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack, Parkes Shire Mayor Cr Ken Keith OAM, festival founders Bob and Anne Steele and 2018 Miss Priscilla Alex Byrne.
Mr Joyce was in the Parkes Shire for the first delivery of steel for the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail project, generously taking time out of his busy schedule to see off the first train as it departed for Sydney.
The Blue Suede Express departed Parkes first around 8.30am, with the iconic Elvis Express leaving not long after.
There were nothing but rave reviews from fans prior to boarding the trains.
Anthony Hassett from Sydney and Greg Williamson from Tenterfield – who were attending their seventh and fourth festivals respectively – said the Parkes Elvis Festival has always been a fun event.
“You can’t not have fun here,” Anthony said.
“It’s five days of just fun.”
First-timer Andrew Duncan from the Central Coast said he loved the festival.
“It’s just fantastic,” he said.
“There were no dramas, everyone is just here for a good time.
“You should have seen us in the Sydney Morning Herald before we left Sydney – we look a lot different now,” he laughed.
“That was before, this is after.”
And for Deanna Mastellone from Sydney, attending her fifth festival this year – she said she’s already booked for next year.
“I have a permanent booking at the North Parkes Motel,” she said.
Also boarding the Elvis Express were John and Christine Smart from Hawkesbury who have been attending the Parkes Elvis Festival for 25 years.
The couple have been running a market stall, selling Elvis merchandise at the festival during those years and have watched the event grow from 500 to 25,000 visitors in that time frame.
“We used to love it when it was held at Bob and Anne’s place (Hotel Gracelands),” Christine said.
“It had a real homely feel to it,” John added.
Anne said they ran the Elvis Festival out of their hotel from 1993, when it began, until 2005.
“And I remember the football players dressing up. Then you would find them lying everywhere in the park,” Christine laughed.
In the early years of the Parkes Elvis Festival, the Parkes Rugby Union Football Club helped take the event to a new level when they started dressing up as Elvis for the entire duration of the festival.
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