WESTLOCK - Wet conditions at the Westlock and District Agricultural Society grounds, and several showers Friday that made conditions worse, didn’t stop hundreds of Elvis fans from attending the 15th Blue Suede Music Festival July 28-30 in Westlock.
The event started Friday with a meet-and-greet with the 13 Elvis tribute artists who came from near and far to entertain. Some sang that evening inside the ag barn, and an open mic gave others a chance to share their talents as well. A highlight of the evening was the a cappella singing of two songs by eight young women from the Pibroch Hutterite Colony as their vocal harmony was not lost on an appreciative crowd.
Although the grounds were still soggy Saturday from the previous rains, the sun came out and people moved their chairs onto the open area in front of the stage to enjoy a full day of mostly Elvis songs from the 13 artists — mixed in were a few Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash songs as well.
During the day, there was a trivia contest, live auction (silent auction items were in the ag barn), and a couple of interviews on stage with special VIP to this year’s show, Christopher Riordan, Elvis’ favorite dancer, who appeared in six movies with him, plus other events. He shared many of the special times working with Elvis. This was the second appearance at the festival for the nearly 86 year old, who still does some acting after leaving home as an 18 year old to go to Hollywood.
Saturday evening, the Flashback Band and Uptown Hornz joined in to back the artists for the final round of music that lasted late into the night.
Sunday, the official 15th-anniversary of the show, was dedicated to mainly gospel music; many of the numbers of which were recorded by Elvis Presley himself.
It was a weekend filled with entertainment from some of the very best Elvis tribute artists and because it is a non-competition event, they were more like family, supporting one another as they performed on stage.
Festival creator and producer Trudy Taphorn said she felt it was a slightly larger crowd than last year, the first it had been held in Westlock and was happy how well things went and is already looking forward to next year’s event, which will remain in Westlock.
Meanwhile, in the ag barn and outside, several vendors were set up, selling various Elvis-themed clothing and other items, special merchandise, plus food vendors and the beer gardens.
One corner of the ag barn was reserved for food and other non-perishable items or cash from those attending the annual event. Late Saturday it was announced 2,000 pounds of items, plus $1,907.10 had been donated and will be distributed evenly to the Morinville Food Bank, Westlock Food Bank, Barrhead Food Bank and the Ripple Connection Support Centre in Barrhead. Once all the expenses for the weekend have been accounted for, the Blue Suede Music Festival will also add more to that total.
