August, 2022 - Elvis & Co

Why Elvis & Co’s Elvis Competition & Music Festival Are Unique

August 16, 2022

Why a new Elvis Competition & Music Festival?

And why should you consider venturing to Deerhurst Resort for a weekend in Autumn to experience the newest and most unique Elvis (& Company) music festival?

We have spent a great deal of time and vacations at Elvis Festivals throughout North America over the past 20 years. All of them have their own flavor. They have their own style, much of which is dictated by the venue and location, but also by their entertainment and their approach to the Elvis competition itself. We have enjoyed them all for different reasons.

Having spent so much time at festivals, however, has constantly resulted in our thinking about ‘how these festivals could be done differently.’ We’ve asked ourselves several questions: How could we do a music festival that places a focus on Elvis but also offers a bit more musical diversity, attracting and adding a new and younger audience to the already existing audience? How do we introduce younger people to the Elvis world and his influence? How can a music festival provide a new, exciting and unique experience for festival goers?

1. Provide a Unique Ultimate Elvis Competition Qualifier

What will make the Elvis & Co Elvis competition different? Our competition will have:

NO TRACKS – Every round of the competition (1^st, 2^nd & Final) will be accompanied by The Casino Brothers Band, the Ultimate North American ETA tribute band (IOHO)

NO REPEATS – There will be no songs repeated during rounds 1 & 2. That means 48 unique songs in the first 2 rounds! Artists competing in the final round may repeat a song that was performed in one of the first 2 rounds but no 2 performers may repeat a song done by another competitor in the finals.

NO BALLAD + BALLAD – During every round of competition, each competitor is required to perform at least one up tempo song. That means audiences will not have to sit through slow song after slow song after slow song after slow song … Although we love all of those slow songs, we want to keep things lively!

2. An Outstanding Venue in an Outstanding Location

Muskoka is often referred to as ‘Malibu of the North’ or ‘Hamptons of the North’ due to the countless celebrities who choose to summer and fall there due to its unsurpassed beauty and tranquility. In fact, there are numerous celebrities with connections to Elvis movies who have homes there including Kurt Russel, Tom Hanks and Cindy Crawford (do you know Cindy’s connection?).

All in one place – Deerhurst Resort houses all types of accommodations, restaurants and Legacy Hall, a professional concert theatre, so there is no need to leave the resort once you park your car (unless you would like to pop in to nearby Huntsville for some shopping).

Indoor & Outdoor Activities – Deerhurst offers activities and facilities for the whole family.

3. White Glove Customer Service

Whether new to a music festival or a regular attendee of Elvis Festivals, we want you to feel welcome from the moment you arrive.

You will never be left wondering what to do or where to go!

Our friendly Elvis & Co Concierge & Ambassadors will:

Welcome you and introduce you to other festival goers
Help you find your shows and orient you around the resort and event locations
Help you decide which other events and activities you want to take part in
Answer any questions you have

3. Focus on Storytelling

In order to truly appreciate Elvis, it is important to understand the milieu in which he grew up and began performing. It is also imperative to understand how that milieu changed over the 3 decades during which he performed and how his music and performances changed with those decades and the changes in his own life.

How do we focus on storytelling?

Memphis Jones

# 1 We start with an exceptional Storyteller – Memphis Jones.

Memphis describes himself as a Song and Dance Man but he is so much more than that. He is considered by many to be Memphis’ premier musical historian and storyteller. A regular performer on the stage of BB Kings on Beale Street, at Graceland and musical tours of Memphis, he brings the history of Memphis music to life like no other.

Memphis will be serving as our MC, show host and our panel interviewer in addition to performing.

# 2 We attempt to create a narrative through the shows.

We don’t want to merely schedule a lot of shows with incredible performers. We want to create shows that tell unforgettable stories with incredible performers! Although the shows will stand on their own, when taken in in their entirety, they will create a narrative that carries through from beginning to end.

4. Focus on Festival Experiences

More than anything, Elvis & Co wants YOU to have fun throughout the weekend and we’ll do our best to make sure that happens through:

Giving you plenty of free time – We don’t want to overschedule you with shows. Instead, we would like to offer you 2 exceptional shows each day and then offer you plenty of free time to socialize, meet other festival goers, participate in the many festival activities taking place, take part in some of the amazing activities offered by Deerhurst, and get to know our performers and competitors.

5. Focus on Elvis' Legacy

Elvis & Co is not just an ‘Elvis’ Festival. Instead, it strives to focus on the music and performers who influenced Elvis and were his contemporaries, as well as explore the legacy of Elvis. Elvis Presley was not a static figure whose influence was limited by a ‘date of death.’ Instead, his influence in the realms of music, performance, fashion and popular cultural more generally continues to be enormous.

We don't want to put Elvis in a Museum

The Company part of Elvis & Co. will explore these influences through presenting outstanding contemporary musicians and entertainers.

The following Elvis & Co performers have already been announced:

Check our website regularly as we continue to announce our Headliners and Special Guests over the coming weeks.

Other Performers & Special Guests To Be Announced.

The line up will be exciting and outstanding.

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Collingwood Elvis Festival – Memories of a Lost Summer Tradition

August 6, 2022

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.

Why did people come to the Collingwood Elvis Festival?

Or why do people go to Elvis Festivals generally?

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.

Friday Street Party

Left: Photo courtesy of Stacy Russo

Above: Photo courtesy of Town of Collingwood.

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.

Saturday Headliner Show

Photo courtesy of Stacy Russo

It was a festival of cherished memories of …

Local charity performances

The Pub Crawl

Rounds of Competition

the Friday Street Party

Outdoor shows at Blue Mountain

Headliner shows

The Classic Car Parade

Afterparties

And The 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.

The Grand Finals

Photo courtesy of Stacy Russo

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.

On that note, attendees, but specifically the performers, will always remember the unrivaled loyalty and commitment of the festival’s GM Rosemarie O’Brien to the festival itself, its performers and volunteers. Without question, aside from Elvis, Rosemarie was the core of the Collingwood Elvis Festival. What it became was her vision. She was the one who grew it to become the world’s largest. She was the one who dreamed the scope of it and made it happen. She welcomed everyone who loved Elvis with open arms. It was inclusive.

Rosemarie O’Brien

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.

Elvis & Co has been inspired by Collingwood, its focus on Elvis and its commitment to providing a weekend of unparalleled music and entertainment. Several performers, artists, management and volunteers involved in Elvis & Co either got their start at Collingwood or participated in it in some way. Elvis & Co, however, will be quite different from Collingwood in several ways. The difference is in the name. Elvis & Co will be

equal parts Elvis and equal parts Company – new, energetic and exciting artists performing music that inspired Elvis or whose music has been inspired by him. It will explore Elvis’ influence on pop culture and will attempt to provide some new and immersive experiences to the Elvis world. Finally, it will endeavor to continue to expose new generations to the phenomenon that was Elvis.

We will not attempt to be a copy of Collingwood. But we hope that our attendees will come to love it just as much. That is a tall order. We will do our best.

For information on shows, tickets and Weekend Passes.

To be among the first to hear Festival updates & news, subscribe to our email list:

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?

Monthly Archives: August 2022