Elvis Festival

Elvis Presley had his birthday on 8 January.  To celebrate, the town of Parkes in central west New South Wales puts on a little shindig each year.  Why Parkes?  Why not.  It is a good way to get people to visit the town in the hottest time of the year.

Mick and I have been saying that we should go for years, but each year comes around and the weather is stinking hot - like 40 degrees C.  All I can envisage is middle aged men in lycra jump suits.  It doesn't sound appealing - it actually sounds sweaty.  We keep saying we will go if there is a year when the weather is a bit cooler.

This year the temperature on the Saturday was only forecast to be in the low 30s and Mick's Saturday job had been cancelled, so we decided to head on up.

We dressed in nice cool clothes and lathered on the sunscreen ready for a nice day out.  Take a cardy?  Nah - it's still going to be hot.  Take a rain jacket, as there were showers forecast? Nah - it's still going to be hot. As we drove up - about two hours from home - we had some spitty rain and it was nice and cool.

When we arrived we had a bit of a wander around - lots of stalls selling everything Elvis, cool drinks, slushies, neck coolers.  They really are geared up well for the hot weather, which is good to see.

The main event on Saturday is the street parade.  We found ourselves a good spot and settled in to be entertained.

The town cryer set the tone.

There were lots of large classic American cars.

Many with Elvis impersonators as passengers or drivers.

Love the hair.

Wow!

The firies got in the swing of things.

Lots of kids were involved in the parade.

That's novel.

Celebrity spotting - Rock music historian Glenn A Baker wearing his typical hat.

How cool.

I want.

Don't these girls look great.

Every parade needs a band.

Marilyn even turned up for the party.

So many nice cars.  So many Elivses (or is that Elvi?)

The parade went for an hour and a quarter.  Quite a turn out.  What we noticed as it progressed was that it was trying very hard to spit rain, but fortunately held off for the duration.  It also was getting progressively cooler.  It had been about 25 degrees C a bit after 9.00am.  When the parade finished my phone told me it was 19 degrees C, feels like 14 degreesC!!! Say what??  That's crazy.  It had been 39 degrees C on the previous day.  No wonder I was starting to get goose bumps in my summer sundress.  Not many neck coolers or cold drinks would have been sold on the morning.

After the parade we had another quick walk around the stalls and then we made the decision to drive across to Forbes (33kms away) and have some lunch.  You see, you couldn't exactly call either of us Elvis fans and we had seen the fun bit.

So, we had a yummy burger in a coffee shop in Forbes, which was really quiet on a Saturday afternoon, and then took the scenic route home via Eugowra and Canowindra.  

A nice day out, we can now say we've been to the Elvis Festival, ate well and drove through some scenic countryside.

Meanwhile, we have continued to have cooler weather, Sunday was quite cool - I needed a cardy. However, that is to be short lived with temps back to the high 30s again in the next few days.  Oh, the joys of summer.