John Lovett the first Elvis sound-a-like winner at inaugural Parkes Elvis Festival in 1993

Or at least he did 30 years ago.

While there had been more publicity around the Elvis look-a-like winner, that being Steve - now Elvis - Lennox, the man sitting next to him in the vintage car in that first Parkes Elvis Festival street parade in 1993 was the first Elvis sound-a-like winner, a 23-year-old John Lovett.

And John says he didn't win that competition until the Saturday night of the festival, which means that scene of them together in the street parade on Saturday morning couldn't have been a more perfect coincidence.

"We were on that float because Fiona (wife) was a waitress at Gracelands, it's why most of us were on there and why we went to the festival," John said.

"They asked me to go in the parade and told me 'we've got an Elvis suit you can wear' which was Bob [Steel's] (festival founder).

"It was all a bit of fun.

"That parade only had like three vehicles in it - it was short and sweet," he laughed.

"And look at it now!"

John is an Elvis fan but he also loves the classics from that era. Gracelands, the birthplace of the Elvis Festival, was the place to be back in those days and owners Bob and Anne were always playing some Elvis music.

John and Fiona attended the festival's concert at the Parkes Leagues Club featuring the first headline act Eddie Youngblood, with many going back to Gracelands afterwards to keep partying. John still has his concert ticket, number 447, in a family album alongside Eddie's autograph and photo.

To this day John still believes Eddie was the best Elvis tribute artist he's ever seen.

"He was up there. You could close your eyes and you'd think it was Elvis singing," he said.

"The great thing was he actually came back to Gracelands after his show, he was so easy to talk to."

Like Elvis Lennox in his look-a-like competition, John didn't know there was a competition on the Saturday night. He decided to get up and have a bit of fun.

"So I put the suit from Bob back on and I looked the part, not sure if I sounded the part but I won!" John laughed.

"I sang Wooden Heart and Eddie Youngblood actually came up and said I did pretty good."

John and Fiona don't attend the festival as much as they used to these days - they leave it to the young ones now - but they love what it's done for the town.

"It's just massive now. Bob and Anne had this dream and it's gone from one level to the next," John said.

"Back then it was hard to get the older people involved, and there wasn't a lot of younger generations either. I always thought 'how long is this going to last? Is it going to fizzle out?'

"But now it's so trendy with the younger ones and seeing the little kids involved, dressing up and singing themselves, that's a sign it's going to keep going.

"They've just brought his music back to life."

As we countdown to the 30th anniversary of the Parkes Elvis Festival in January, we're celebrating the milestone by bringing our readers a special series of stories that show just how far the festival has come and the people who've made it what it is today.

The series so far: