This weekend would have been the 29^th Collingwood Elvis Festival … had there not been a pandemic … and had the Town not shut it down for good after 2019.  For the vast majority of the Collingwood Elvis Festival goers, who returned to Collingwood and Blue Mountain year after year after year, the fact that the Town no longer wanted to run this festival was and continues to be inconceivable.  But the Town didn’t share our passion for Elvis.  And the Town didn’t understand what the festival was all about.  Yes, at its core, it was about Elvis.  But it was so much more than just that.  It was about the community that came together for 4 days every summer.  And it is for this reason, that the 3^rd weekend of July will forever feel a little (or more likely very) hollow for those of us who were fortunate to experience it.

Obviously, a love for Elvis.  Increasingly more often, out of curiosity.  Or because a friend convinced them to come.  Why do people keep coming back to an Elvis Festival?  For the community.  Hands down, people continue to come to Elvis Festivals because of the community they find there.  They make friends that they continue to interact with online.  They meet up with those friends at other Elvis shows.  They return again to the Elvis Festival to experience what is akin to a family reunion.  And they begin to plan their vacations around attending these festivals, traveling around the continent and increasingly around the world to attend other Elvis Festivals, continually meeting up with and adding to this ‘chosen family.’  And along the way, they learn more about Elvis and the music that both inspired him and was inspired by him and they come to love it.  And they keep coming back.  Or in the case of Collingwood, they kept coming back.

Collingwood was the first and largest Elvis Festival.  But more importantly …

It was a place where many artists began their careers as performers.  Starting out as an amateur Elvis Tribute Artist before turning it into a career as a professional ETA or as a performer / musician performing their own music.

It was a place where people just ‘turned on their Elvis’ that one time every year, trying out their chops at performing his music but more importantly, having fun with other Elvis fans who had dreams of being on stage.

It was a place where young fans could discover music that spoke to and inspired them.

It was a place where people of all ages, from young children to youth, to Gen Z, Millenials, Gen X and Boomers met each other, cheered for each other and learned about each other.

It was a place were everyone was accepted and belonged.  Where people who would not otherwise meet each other or converse with each other not only came together but embraced each other along with their interests and sometimes their quirks.

It was a place that everyone who attended booked their vacations around, counted down the days to and began the countdown to again starting on the Monday following the Festival Grand Finals.

For festival attendees, there are memories of:

Lining up for Elvis cookies at Tim Hortons to get your supply before they ran out for the weekend;

Getting up at 3:00 am Friday morning to rush down to Hurontario Street and set up chairs to reserve the best spot for the Friday Street Party;

Looking to escape the heat with some shade and a cold drink at Moguls on Friday afternoon;

The festival newspaper published in the morning getting everyone up to date on the previous day’s happenings and results;

Cheering on the youth at Pizza Hut on Saturday afternoon and trying to figure out which one would be a contender in the adult division one day;

Priscilla Presley;

The Elvis loving Chilean miner;

Sunday morning gospel service;

Saturday morning pancake breakfast;

The slightly moist combination of the heat of the arena and the chill rising from the floorboards covering the ice surface during the Headliner shows and Grand Finals;

Rushing the stage to get a sweaty scarf, towel or kiss;

The final weekend afterparty on Sunday night at the Olde’ Town Terrace.

And for the performers, there are memories of :

Mishaps with Elvis Attire;

Getting the hair just right;

Last minute jumpsuit repairs;

The heat backstage at The Gayety;

Or the heat backstage at The Curling Club;

The group ETA photo before the Classic Car Parade;

Sweltering in the early morning sun of the Classic Car parade;

Having the classic car you are riding in catch fire;

Fainting fans;

Hand cramps from signing too many programs;

Facial cramps from smiling in too many photos;

The early Sunday morning haze following a late Saturday night at an after party….

Or an after afterparty

A midnight charity performance at the downtown Collingwood Tim Hortons;

The changerooms at the Eddie Bush Arena;

The missing door on the bathroom of the changeroom at The Eddie Bush Arena;

Comparing boots backstage;

The perfumed flowers from The Flower Lady;

Waiting in line on Thursday outside of Rosemarie’s office for your weekend schedule and debrief.

Everyone who desired to be a part of the festival became part of the temporary community that reassembled every third week of July.  That was largely because of Rosemarie.  She was tough when she needed to be, to make sure that the audience was never disappointed.  She was a promoter of Elvis, his music and his image.  She was also a promoter of each performer that took part, giving everyone who desired an opportunity to experience the festival stage and adulation of the crowd.  She was part promoter, part sympathizer, part mother to her ETAs.

These are only a few of the reasons that Elvis & Co brought Rosemarie on board as Festival Ambassador.

The Collingwood Elvis Festival is responsible for much of what has arisen in the Elvis festival world since.  It gave birth to countless ETAs, Elvis shows and other Elvis Festivals worldwide.  It reminded many why they loved Elvis’ music; it created many Elvis lovers out of people who somehow had previously escaped his brilliance; it created new generations of Elvis fans.  Many performers got their start at Collingwood and moved on to careers as professional ETAs or artists performing their own music.  Some performers never performed anywhere except Collingwood but will always carry with them the memories of their moments on stage and the camaraderie backstage.

In the meantime, we would love to hear your favourite memories of Collingwood.  When did you start going?  Who did you meet there?  What did it mean to you?