Culture at Collingwood

We have been very privileged to have access to some real culture this weekend.  Yesterday we went to Orillia to see their Beatles special (seemed to be mostly a street sale), and today we went to Collingwood, which claims to be the home of the World’s Largest Elvis Festival.  We have gone a couple of times in previous years, and it is a truly spectacular street festival for 3 days.  It is also a big competition for ETA’s.  (Elvis Tribute Artists,, NOT impersonators, for those of us in the know)

There are many things to see, and the people watching is out of this world!

Here’s a picture of the main street stage, where hundreds of people had parked their portable lawn chairs for the best view.  They probably came out at the crack of dawn to get the best spots.

You could buy Elvis memorabilia everywhere.  The part I like about the official site is that Elvis himself was checking it out.

The crowd participated with great enthusiasm.  All of the following pictures were those of strangers I approached, asking if I could get a picture of the neat gear they bought.  They enthusiastically agreed and did some great posing.  What do you think of the sunglasses?  I especially like the ones with the false side chops.

Women really got into this.  The leis are ones that Elvis would throw down to them while doing his performance.  Lots of people were sporting these.

There was also dancing in the streets.

The groupies at the base of the stage were quite awe-inspiring.  The gentleman lip-synched with the performers, and the ladies would bounce up and down shouting.  These were not the average teenage groupies.

There were a lot of street vendors, but this one was worthy of note.  People were literally getting shaken to death on these platforms, but they seemed to enjoy it.

I saved the best part to the last.  I could see the names of at least 50 ETA’s on the program I got, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there were many more.  You must understand that Elvis today comes in all sizes and shapes.  They dress the part impeccably, and have the stage mannerisms down pat.  But if you close your eyes, you would swear it’s Elvis back from the dead, performing.  The one show we saw the most of featured Joey Cundari, who had a gorgeous voice.  This is definitely a fabulous festival.