Downtown, tourism officials wondered why it took so long to have an Elvis Festival

Jun. 3—Tupelo was missing something.

For many in the All-America City 25 years ago, Tupelo seemed to be missing a key element: a celebration of its most beloved citizen and the King of Rock and Roll. Sure, there was the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum, but the grounds were set up more for quiet reflection on the life of the legendary musician.

But in 1999, on the heels of the demise of the popular Oleput festival, downtown and tourism officials finally put in place the long-held idea of having an Elvis Festival in the All-America City.

On Jan. 8, 1999, on what would have been Elvis' 64th birthday, the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Partnership announced that Tupelo's inaugural Elvis Presley Festival would be held on Aug. 6-8 of that year.

Tupelo officials hoped festival would draw as much interest as Oleput, which from 1991-1998 filled the streets of Tupelo with upward of 30,000-40,000 people and was named one of the best festivals in the Southeast.

So how could Tupelo capture some of that excitement for an Elvis Festival?

The festival had an organizing committee comprising Debbie Brangenberg, Stephanie Coomer, Linda Johnson, Bobby King and the late Pat Rasberry.

Brangenberg was the manager of the Partnership. Johnson was the executive director of the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau, where Rasberry also worked. Coomer worked with King at Bobby King and Associates, the marketing firm that advised the CVB.

Brangenberg, who would later become the executive director of the renamed Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association, said Johnson had had been questioning the city's lack of an Elvis festival for years. It didn't take long for the idea to be embraced fully by the committee.

Johnson saw the festival as a way not only to celebrate Elvis but also as an economic driver. Visitors would stay in hotels, eat at restaurants and shop in stores while they were in Tupelo for the festival.

"We were supported by the hotel and motel tax, and this was a way to help the CVB as well as the city," Johnson said.

King said a trip by Coomer, Brangenberg, Johnson and Dick Guyton — then the director of the Elvis Birthplace and Museum — to the Collingwood Elvis Festival in Ontario, Canada, was eye-opening. The festival drew hundreds of tribute artists, and the city threw its full financial support behind it.

"They came back and basically said it's a shame we're being outdone by the Canadians," said King, now-retired. "So we decided we needed it. My reasoning was that I was working with the CVB, and we said this was something we had to get done. It was a natural thing."

But before they could hold a festival, the group needed the legal blessing of Elvis Presley Enterprises at Graceland.

King recalls the committee was concerned Graceland would say no, and while the CVB had a good relationship with EPE for advertising purposes, there was no guarantee the organization would give its blessing for the festival.

"Linda, Stephanie and I went to Graceland to ask permission to use Elvis' likeness for a festival," Brangenberg said. "They said they wondered why we hadn't done it before."

With EPE's blessing in hand, planning for the first Tupelo Elvis Festival got underway.

The committee started by securing sponsorships for the festival. Preliminary plans included music stages with gospel and rock 'n' roll performers, a songwriting contest, a parade of vintage cars, street dances, crafts, a 5K run, food vendors, storytelling venues, and tours of Tupelo sites relating to Elvis' early years in the city.

Not on the table initially: Elvis Tribute Artists. Graceland had long derided the term "Elvis impersonators," and it had doubts about Elvis tribute artists. 4

They would eventually come around, however.

"We learned the hard way not to call them Elvis impersonators," King said. "Graceland said, 'We don't impersonate; we recreate.'"

The first Tupelo Elvis Festival was held in August 1999, which was in the heat of summer, and festival attendees didn't exactly enjoy standing on asphalt and concrete. One performer, wearing a polyester suit in the heat, needed oxygen from the Tupelo Fire Department. That was a clear sign August was not going to work, Johnson said. Organizers decide to move Elvis Fest to June, essentially taking over the dates of the defunct Oleput festival.

"The first one one was in August, and we were hoping to link it to Elvis Week at Graceland, but it was so hot," Coomer said. "So we moved it to June, and over the years the festival has evolved and taken many forms."

King said the first Elvis Festival lacked ... well ... Elvis. Organizers were struggling to figure out how to best incorporate him into the activities, something they've perfected over the years.

"Where we started and where we got to was a complete 180-degree turn," King said. "We said we needed to grow it and we did."

Tribute artists welcome

Perhaps the biggest change to the festival occurred in 2006 with the reenactment of Elvis' 1956 concert at the Tupelo Fairgrounds. Held at Fairpark, the concert was as the impetus for ETAs' larger role in the annual event. That same year, Graceland fully embraced the growing tribute artist culture and began to host the Ultimate Tribute Artist competition in Memphis. Tupelo was asked to become a preliminary round for UTA, with the first competition in 2007.

"I remember we asked Graceland if we could have a tribute artist to help recreate Elvis' homecoming concert at Fairpark, but they said no," Coomer said. "They said we had to have three."

EPE didn't want one tribute artist to claim that he was the top choice at the Tupelo Elvis Fest over other tribute artists, Coomer said.

Over the years, the festival has attracted a mix of musicians, and had headliners — Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Charlie Daniels, B.B. King, Mary Wilson, Montgomery Gentry, Marty Stuart, Paul Thorn and others. The festival caught lightning in a bottle in 2012 when Little Big Town and Thorn were the lead acts. The former had just released "Pontoon," which would soar in popularity, selling over 2 million copies and pushing the group to new heights.

"Our budget was to always try to get the up-and-coming acts," Brangenberg said. "This is a country market, and some groups we brought many didn't know about ... but we tried to bring a mix of musicians based on our budget. But it got to a point that we could no longer afford some of the acts that people wanted to see."

Johnson said there were many memorable performers, and one tribute artist, Travis LeDoyt, has been a fan favorite. One year at the arena, he rode a motorcycle down the ramp and had some Las Vegas-style dancers accompany him.

"Yeah, that wasn't going to work in Tupelo," Johnson said with a laugh. "But, through a lot of trial and error, we got to where we needed to be with the festival.

Elvis Fest the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association's primary fundraiser, and years in which weather has affected the festival have hurt the organization's bottom line.

After the festival went virtual in 2020 because of the pandemic, the emphasis was to promote harder the Elvis-related elements of the festival, from the tribute artists competition to musical acts playing inside the Cadence Bank Arena. Those events had long been money-makers for the festival, whereas the outdoor music acts had been hit-and-miss, especially with the weather playing a huge role.

"First and foremost, it is a fundraiser for DTMSA, and they spend a lot of time and effort putting it together," said Coomer, who is now deputy director of the CVB. "We've gotten in a good place now where they're now making money, but we continue to search to see if the outdoor element work with what we're trying to do, for does it open us up to more exposure where a profit can't be made.

"The part that was growing was the Elvis part. We went from competition in the conference center to half-full at the Lyric, then filling up the Lyric and how it's at the arena and it keeps growing. "

THE NEXT 25 YEARS

King said having the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association essentially take ownership of the festival to grow it and having Fairpark included in the festival has been key to its success.

Fairpark was officially dedicated in 2005 after six years of planning. A $23 million bond issue helped renovate what had been a derelict part of downtown. A new city hall was built, and the plan was to transform the area into a residential and commercial area that would anchor the front porch of the city.

"It was just huge to have that happen, and it benefited the festival in many ways," King said. "It was shiny and new and people wanted to gather there. And if it wasn't for the volunteers who gave their time to the festival, they're the ones who made it happen each year."

As for the next 25 years of the festival, there is plenty of opportunity to engage more fans. And Tupelo can support a festival long term, as the Gumtree Festival recently celebrated its 51st year. Coomer things Elvis Fest can have the same support.

"I don't think we'll stand still and say this is the way we're always going to do it," Coomer said, adding that the group is always tweaking the event to see what does and doesn't work. "Twenty-five years from now, I'd like to see that we're still paying tribute to Elvis and doing it the best way possible. Our brand is strong because we are the birthplace of Elvis and Tupelo should be very proud of that."

dennis.seid@djournal.com