{"id":402901,"date":"2026-01-09T22:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/402901\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T22:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:42:10","slug":"the-king-of-rock-and-roll-transcends-language-and-culture-at-the-parkes-elvis-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/402901\/","title":{"rendered":"The King of Rock and Roll transcends language and culture at the Parkes Elvis Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

While English is not Toki Toyokazu’s first language, it has not stopped him from stepping into Elvis Presley’s iconic blue suede shoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hailing from Aomori, Japan, the tribute artist has travelled around the world performing hits from the “King of Rock and Roll”.<\/p>\n

Mr Toyokazu is part of a growing international presence at the Parkes Elvis Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Singing his songs, [it] makes me friends with people all over the world \u2014 no-one is loved as much as he is,” he said.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

“I love it here; it has given me a lot of love.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Parkes Elvis Festival attracts about 25,000 visitors to the town of about 10,000 people.<\/p>\n

The festival is held annually in the second week of January to coincide with Elvis’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Elvis in Spanish<\/p>\n

English is not the first language of busker Rita Marquez either, who grew up in Colombia hearing Elvis’s songs in Spanish.<\/p>\n

Ms Marquez has travelled to the festival for the first time with friends from her home in Gladstone, Queensland.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Rita Marquez says the translated version of Blue Suede Shoes became very popular in South America when she was growing up. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

She said Elvis’s appeal transcends cultures.<\/p>\n

“Elvis is a spirit; the legend that he left is for everybody \u2014 for young people, women and men,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a legacy that we receive and share.”<\/p>\n

She said Elvis’s tunes translated literally into her native tongue, which made them easy to sing in both languages.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Up to 28,000 people are expected to attend the Parkes Elvis Festival. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

A female Elvis<\/p>\n

Sydney’s Maria Phillips started singing from the age of three because of Elvis.<\/p>\n

The “Platinum Elvis” tribute artist remembers watching his movies on repeat at her grandmother’s house as a child.<\/p>\n

“I stood in front of the TV and did Elvis,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Maria Phillips is a tribute artist at this year’s Parkes Elvis Festival. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

That moment sparked a trajectory that brought Ms Phillips to the Parkes Elvis Festival as one of a few female musicians embodying The King.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think I’ve sung an Elvis song every day of my life since I was three,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Phillips sings in the same key as Elvis, but said she does not attempt to replicate his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think as a woman, if you can bring your perspective \u2026 and channel it yourself in your way, why not?<\/p>\n

“I hope [Elvis] would be looking down on us grateful that he’s not limiting himself to half the population,” she said.\"People<\/p>\n

The 2026 event celebrates 70 years since the release of Elvis’s “Love Me Tender” movie. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

Erica Gahan and her two sisters “all love Elvis” after being introduced to his music by their parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Attending the festival for the first time, they are part of a growing number of women who participate in the busking competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Erica Gahan busking at the Parkes Elvis Festival in 2026. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

“Usually we only perform for our parents in the lounge room, so it is really special,” Ms Gahan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s really nice to be part of that [Elvis] community, it makes us feel less eccentric.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Ms Gahan did not see herself on the main stage anytime soon, she was “really proud” of women like Maria Phillips.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While English is not Toki Toyokazu’s first language, it has not stopped him from stepping into Elvis Presley’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,52312,213930,134,213931,136,213929,213932,12632],"class_list":["post-402901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-elvis","tag-elvis-tribute-artist","tag-entertainment","tag-eta","tag-music","tag-parkes-elvis-festival","tag-performers","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}