The King may have died more than 40 years ago, but you wouldn't know it looking at the sea of sequinned jackets and oiled quiffs at Sydney's Central Station.
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Hundreds of Elvis tribute artists, lookalikes and fans flooded the Grand Concourse on Thursday morning ahead of their seven-hour trip to regional NSW for the 27th Parkes Elvis Festival.
Two trains - dubbed the Blue Suede Express and Elvis Express - departed Central at 9.30am to take fans to the weekend-long celebration of the late rock 'n' roll star.
Elvis lookalikes Damien Barden, 56, and his nephew Luke Barden, 38, were among the group, dressed in hand-crafted matching costumes.
For Damien, a surfer and Bondi native, Elvis will always be King.
"There will always only ever be one Elvis because no one will come close to Elvis," Mr Barden told AAP.
Parkes' population triples in the second week of January each year with more than 26,000 Elvis and Priscilla Presley fans arriving for the festival officially endorsed by the estate of the King of Rock and Roll.
The celebration features concerts, a street parade and The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest to decide who represents Australia in a global competition in Memphis, USA, later in 2019.
The 1957 hit All Shook Up and the 1950s decade will be the focus of this year's event.
Australian Associated Press
