Fans Flock To Ypsilanti For 'ElvisFest'

YPSILANTI (WWJ) - Elvis Presley fans are "All Shook Up" over this weekend's ElvisFest at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti.

Eleven Elvis hip-swivelers will take the stage Friday and Saturday. ElvisFest organizer Mary Decker said there's a mix of the early "rockabilly" Elvis and later "jumpsuit" version. She said they even recruit some of the "Elvis elite" to come to town each year.

"We go out to different contests and kind of check them out, see what they look like and sometimes we find somebody we want to bring here and some times we do stay with some of our regular ones too. We have some that have been here before and we have some new ones," Decker said.

She says some of the performers have Elvis' look, while others focus on matching the singer's voice.

"Some of them, they don't necessarily look like him but when they start singing it just blows you away. And then there are other ones that maybe have the whole package, you know, they have the looks and the moves and the songs, and there are some other ones that are working on it," Decker said.

Other tribute acts will also take the stage performing as Roy Orbison, the Blues Brothers and Tom Jones, among others. As many as 8,000 people are expected at this year's festival. Elvis died 34 years ago next month.

Michigan's Elvisfest began in 2000 in Ypsilanti. Every July, fans flock by the thousands to Riverside Park to pay homage to the King of Rock & Roll and to hear the most award-winning professional Elvis tribute artists in North America.

Other activities planned for ElvisFest include a children's area with inflatables, a classic car show, raffles, Elvis memorabilia, food vendors, a beer tent and more.

For more information, visit www.mielvisfest.org.