THANK YOU VERY MUCH…
How The King put Parkes on the map
The Parkes Elvis Festival has been honouring the memory of “The King” for more than two decades and the town can now proudly boast one of the most successful community festivals in the country. LISA MINNER speaks with festival director Emily Mann about what it takes to market and maintain a festival that attracts thousands of cashed-up, happy tourists and Elvis fans each year.
THE annual Parkes Elvis Festival has been dubbed the overnight success that took 20 years to achieve,’ according to the phenomenally popular event’s director Emily Mann.
While it might have appeared otherwise, says Mann, the festival’s growth has been slow and steady since its humble beginnings in 1993, when the inaugural event kicked off thanks to a committee of local Elvis fans who had a vision. The first festival drew an audience of just a couple of hundred people.
In 2009 that figure reached 9500 and now, in 2016, with an estimated record 22,000 people in attendance, the festival has well and truly hit its blue-suede shoe clad stride.
Visitors flock from across the globe to enjoy the 120 events spread out over five days.
The festival also has a media audience of 60 million with fans worldwide.
Not a bad result for a town with a population of 12,000 people.
When so many other rural towns are struggling to capture and retain the tourism dollar on which so many depend, Parkes has defined itself as a model for festival-based tourism.
So much so, the town has a full time festival director in Mann as
well as a marketing coordinator to ensure the jewel in the town’s crown only gets bigger and brighter each year.
“When they come they tend to keep coming year after year, so we are taking a long term strategic approach to our marketing.”
Mann believes the success of the Elvis Festival is driven by a tight and strategic marketing program.
“Marketing is the powerhouse that drives the festival; we have a very detailed year round strategy across television, print, digital, video and a strong social media presence.
“It’s so big now we’ve employed a second person to coordinate the marketing and sponsorshipit’s also a critical part of what drives the success of the festival,” Mann says proudly.
In the 1990s, the festival was run by a volunteer committee and the Parkes Shire Council which brought in some “light marketing support” but it really exploded in 2007, when council had a staff member focus specifi-
cally on supporting and marketing the festival. They’ve never looked back.
Mann says the festival is now appealing to a different demographic.
“We are certainly seeing a new audience coming into town, which is exciting, given we’ve been doing a lot of generational change marketing and we’re reaching a younger age bracket.
“When they come they tend to keep coming year after year, so we are taking a long term strategic approach to our marketing.”
The festival’s marketing strategy is also supported, critiqued and enhanced by major core funders like Destination NSW.
Created by the community for the community, Mann says a key strategy is to pour resources into the volunteers’ groups and into making sure they have what they need.
“It’s also about talking laterally to each other as well as being supported across the board,” she says.
Asked to offer some advice for other regional councils hoping to emulate Parkes’ success, Mann says: “It doesn’t just happen, although Trundle’s Abba Festival is experiencing a boom in
popularity,
“But that’s fast growth on a volunteer committee and a big strain on their time and wellbeing.”
The festival’s director says Parkes Shire Council offers support and marketing advice where it can to regional towns launching their own community festivals.
“I was speaking to Spyfest (a new James Bond inspired festival) recently in Goulburn and they’ve been working from the get-go with council and volunteers to find their way forward successfully from the very start; it will be really interesting to see how that goes for them.”
Mann says Goulburn council has been very supportive of their town’s new festival because, as most regional councils recognise, destination tourism lies in major events.
Festivals are a great way to stimulate the regional economy, bring communities together and engage the respective towns in creative development, while instilling a sense of pride and ownership, she says.
Recent official endorsement by Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. was a win for festival organisers who have tweaked their marketing to accommodate the collaboration.
“Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. has a very strong idea on how they want Elvis represented and that’s now reflected in our marketing and collateral; it’s the direction we want to take the festival as a respectful legacy to the memory and music of Elvis.”
Mann says it takes the involvement of the whole town to make an event like the Elvis Festival happen.
“When you put the community in a position where it needs to be resourceful and hospitable, that’s when Parkes really shines; the people continually pull together so we can present something spectacular.”
The town has handled the accommodation issue with a bit of ingenuity too. With only nine motels, council opened up the show ground and sporting fields for campers, caravaners and camper vans. They also offer a very successful home-hosting program for visitors.
Asked if there are any plans to bring Priscilla or Lisa-marie Presley to Parkes, Mann says it’s a question that’s been on everyone’s lips for a long time.
“It would be wonderful to have an actual descendent of Elvis come along.
“We are very blessed to have had other people here who were his associates and colleagues, but you never know!”
And what about plans for a “big Elvis” to eventually “grace” the city? Mann laughs. She diplomatically says she’s not sure about that.
“We’d love to be able to honour him in a more concrete form, potentially with a statue in the future.”
“It would be wonderful to have an actual descendent of Elvis’ come along, we are very blessed to have other people who were his associates and colleagues attend, but you never know!”