Every year we pop up to Collingwood to visit with family. Each year we try to be there during the famous Collingwood Elvis Festival. This is the only Elvis-Organization/family-sanctioned event outside of Memphis Tn in North America and the biggest in the world! This year it all worked out - we had an opportunity to be there during the 13th annual festival. The crowds were huge. They were calling for over 70-80,000 to be in town - which usually has a population of around 19,000 - and they arrive from all over the globe. 140+ professional and amateur Elvis impersonators would be there, singing their hearts out and competing against each other. Everywhere you looked - everywhere you went, there they were - and everywhere you turned, the curios, collectables, books, CD's etc were on display. The public partying went on until two AM in the morning - the private partying probably never ended! There were a number of venues along with an "Elvis" competition to determine the best look-alike. Elvis music and costumes abounded and almost everyone in town was sporting some form of outfit or accessory à la Elvis! The bars were crowded and we suspect just a little beer was consumed during the festival. You did not have to be an Elvis fan nor did you have to like 50's music to have fun - it just happened. All age groups were there in quantity and all appeared to have a great time. The only sour note was at some of the venues where admittance was restricted to certain numbers at a time for crowd control purposes. Some of the admission restrictions were poorly managed and we saw situations on more than one occasion where someone asked permission to pop out of a venue for a reasonable purpose, was granted permission, then refused re-entry even though they sported an admission bracelet. Just bad organization in this area - but all other areas of the weekend event appeared to be well managed and most attending had a great time. Here are some shots of the Festival. There will be another festival next year - highly recommended that you try to attend - but book accommodation early - all lodging within 30+ miles was booked solid!

A gathering of "Elvis's" over 140 in town.	Jackie's cousin Cheryl saying 'Hello' to Elvis...	Big crowds everywhere over 70,000 in town.	Reincarnated Elvis maybe? came back as a dog?
Main St Collingwood lots of walking involved...	John & Cheryl giving directions to Jackie	Big crowds, not much room for cars.	One of the venues.. admission $5 and a beer tent.
Still space available at one of the venues	The competition stage -an Elvis belts it out!	An Elvis taking time out for a little refreshment.	Gaggle of Elvis's hamming it up for a photo.
Another Elvis performs at another street venue	Be afraid.. be very afraid.. the Elvis clones are coming!!	Another group of Elvis's entertaining the crowd.	13 consecutive Elvis festivals - nary a single drop of rain!