(PRWEB) August 1, 2005
Thousands of Elvis Presley fans will gather Aug. 6 in Cornelia, Ga., to celebrate the life, times and music of the King of Rock ‘n Roll during the 6th Annual Big E Festival.
The Loudermilk Boarding House Museum, at 271 Foreacre Street, downtown, will serve as the backdrop to the daylong festival.
Singing classic Elvis tunes, more than 15 Elvis tribute artists will take the stage on the Loudermilk Boarding House porch to compete for cash and prizes and the chance to win the coveted honor of 2005 Champion or the People’s Choice Winner. The festival starts at 10 a.m., with performances beginning at 11 a.m., and runs until the Elvi leave the building.
Elvis-inspired paintings and drawings by Norcross, Ga.-based artist Trevor Hawkins will hang in the Main Gallery of the boarding house. Hawkins’ compilation of original work includes images of Elvis at Graceland, individual portraits of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll onstage and favorite scenes from his many movie roles.
Festival attendees can also tour Joni Mabe’s Panoramic Collection of Everything Elvis, which is housed upstairs at the Loudermilk Boarding House Museum. Mabe, the collection’s director, artist and curator from Athens, Ga., has amassed more than 30,000 pieces of Elvis memorabilia, ranging from albums, photos and her personal artwork, to museum treasures such as the Elvis Wart, the actual wart removed from Elvis’ hand, and the “maybe Elvis toenail,” which Mabe found at Graceland in the Jungle Room.
“When I was 19, I heard Elvis’ voice on the radio and that was just the beginning,” says Joni Mabe, whose eclectic collection of “Everything Elvis” has been visited by people from all over the world. Known as “The Queen of the King,” Mabe toured Europe and North America for 14 years with her memorabilia collection and has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Defending 2004 Festival Champ Damon Hendrix; Youth Division Winner Sean Sharp; and People’s Choice Award Winner Arik Christopher will perform at the 2005 Big E Festival. Other Elvis tribute artists set to appear include Alex Swindle, Johnny Elvis, Matthew Spaulding, Rick Wade, Nigel Sherrod, Robby Dean Scott, Ron Lawson, Ronnie Norton, Ted McMullin, Walter Busby, Garyelvis Britt, Tevin Loggins, Demi Downing, Charlie Cole and Charlie Cole Jr.
Tours of the museum are free with admission to the Big E Festival, and visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs for the daylong music festival. Vendors selling peanut butter and banana sandwiches, barbecue and boiled peanuts will offer Elvis-friendly food, and Elvis merchandise and artwork will be available for purchase. Classic cars from the Peachtree City Cruize-In Cadillac Club will be on display throughout the day as well.
For more information on the 6th Annual Big E Festival and upcoming show by artist Trevor Hawkins, contact the Loudermilk Boarding House Museum at (706) 778-2001, visit http://www.jonimabe.com/festival.html. Information on Hawkins can be found on his Web site at http://www.popimages4u.com.
For additional attractions in the Habersham County area, contact the Habersham Chamber of Commerce at (706) 778-4654.
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