Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Tupelo's Elvis Presley 80th Birthday Recap

When you throw a party for a king, it has to be pretty great. To honor Elvis’ 80th Birthday, Tupelo threw a weekend long party fit for the King of Rock 'N Roll. 



Kicking off the celebration, the Elvis Presley Birthplace hosted a birthday party for Elvis at his first home. The party had guests from all across the world, including Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and more. Guests conversed about their beloved entertainer and reminisced on some of their favorite stories with other fans. There was cake and the congregation joined in on a joyous “Happy Birthday.”



Later that afternoon, the Tupelo Elvis Festival unveiled the artwork for the 2015 festival. The piece was created by local artist, Richard Tucker, and is a beautiful watercolor painting of a young Elvis with a creative use of red, black, and white font.


That night, Tupelo Community Theatre premiered “Graceland,” the story of two Elvis fans waiting outside the gates of Graceland to be the first ones inside when the home opened to the public. The actresses had the crowd laughing out loud while displaying the true dedication of Elvis fans.


Also, that night, the Link Centre played host to a sing-along to Elvis’ film “Jailhouse Rock” that featured Memphis Jones leading the show. The movie offered the opportunity for fans to rewatch one of their favorite Elvis movies and sing along with friends and fellow fans.

On Friday, the celebration continued with another unveiling. This time, the Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau unveiled an exhibit featuring Mississippi Slim, a man who helped shape Elvis into the musician he became. The unveiling featured relatives of Slim who recounted stories of the humor and kindness of the late musician.

That evening two more events kept the party going, starting with an Elvis-themed art exhibit at the GumTree Museum of Art. The gallery featured several artists' interpretations of the Tupelo boy and also had the Memphis Jones Trio provide entertainment. Meanwhile, at the BancorpSouth Arena, Eric Church performed to a sold out crowd as part of his Outsiders World Tour.


The party came to a close Saturday with the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra performing some fantastic arrangements of Elvis’ greatest hits. During their second set, Richard Marx joined the orchestra to perform a few of his songs, as well as some of his favorite Elvis songs. It was truly a special evening and a fantastic close to a weekend celebration of Tupelo’s most famous native son.  


Follow this link to see a full gallery of the weekend's events: http://bit.ly/1BOqmbo

3 comments:

  1. Well done Tupelo. The Elvis world is looking on.

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    1. Thank you! We had a blast doing it and hope that every who participated enjoyed themselves.

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  2. King’s birthday party!! That sounds awesome. You might have hired an experienced event planner for this party. Isn’t it? The cake is so huge and looking so yummy. I wish I could have attended the party!

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